Manor Of Slaughtered Guests
by Natsuyuki Sera 1412
Summary: The case the SPR office had recently gotten, turns out to be more of a challenge then originally thought, and it seems Mai is the focus of the spirits attention. The SPR gang soon find themselves in a lot of trouble. Will they be able to solve the case? And through all the trouble will Naru and Mai's relationship strengthen to something more then before?
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: This story takes place after episode 25 (or chapter 2 of Volume 9) BEFORE Naru's past was revealed. Please enjoy! Review's are welcomed (as long as they don't insult anything)**

**I'm sorry if Characters personalities are a bit off, or the way they call others is. It's difficult remembering the differences. Plus, I've only read it once and watched the English version 3 times. So, please don't get mad.**

**Again, enjoy.**

**-Kuroba Natsu**

* * *

It was an early spring day and it seemed that the SPR office hadn't gotten a case in forever. It seemed that everything was normal for once. Okay, maybe not normal, but as normal as things can be.

I set down the kettle and stood there for a moment, looking at the steaming tea. My life was a constant circle, just like the steam.

"Mai!" a voice shouted, making me jump out of my thoughts. I sighed.

"Coming…" I said, picking up the tea. I then turned around and walked towards the office where the person who shouted for me was.

I walked into the office and set the cup of tea on the desk. I put my hands on my hips, waiting for a 'thank you'.

"You're dismissed, MaI," the man clad in black said.

I rolled my eyes. Was it too much to ask for a "Thank you, Mai." For Naru, I guess it was. He will never change.

I walked out of Naru's office and shut the door behind me. I sighed and stood there for a moment. Dealing with him everyday was tiring, but I couldn't say it was boring.

I heard a door shut and I looked over to see Lin, carrying a few files in his arms.

"Hey, Lin," I said, smiling, "would you like some tea?"

"No," Lin said, sitting at his computer.

My smiled quickly turned into a frown. Same as usual, silent Lin.

I walked over and sat on the couch, finally getting to rest after all the work. I sighed and smiled, but that was soon ruined by the door slamming shut behind me.

"Get up, Mai," Naru said. I jumped up and glared at his back as he walked over to the coat rack. He grabbed his coat and walked to the front door with Lin following behind.

I blinked, wondering what was going on and why he was in such a rush.

"Mai!" Naru shouted from outside. "We have a case, now hurry up!"

I was startled but I hurried none-the-less.

Naru didn't bother telling me where we were going. Although that was a given.

The ride was silent and very eerie. There was something bothering Naru, but if I asked it was most likely he wouldn't tell me.

* * *

It was about an hour since we left the office and hit the road to some unknown area. And I began to notice that my eyes were shutting on me.

_How can I be tired? _I thought. _I just took a nap not less then three minutes ago. _My eyes shut, but I pinched myself before I could fall asleep. I shot my eyes open. _No, Mai! You can't fall asleep! We must… _My eyes began getting heavy again. _…be…getting… _Before I knew it my eyes shut and I was no longer conscious.

I was in complete darkness and it seemed the only light in the darkness was where I was standing. _Great… _I thought. _It's one of those dreams…_

I turned in a full circle, but there was no sign of the one person in all my dreams. I turned around again and suddenly the scene changed. I was now standing in a large ballroom or entrance hall, I couldn't tell which.

"Mai…" a voice whispered. I looked around, but no one was there. "You need to get out of here. It's dangerous."

I looked around again, but still there was no one. Soon I was startled by a strike of lightning and the sound of thunder. In the midst of the bright light I saw a figure with what looked like a knife. I was frozen in fear.

When I saw the place around me, that fear had changed into being terrified. All around me there were corpses. Blood covered the walls and stained the floor. Even the air seemed to be dyed with the smell of new spilt blood.

I was surprised to feel a hand covering my mouth, then feeling a surging pain in my chest. The hand vanished and I looked down. There I saw a knife straight through me. I collapsed onto the floor, no longer able to see the world around me.

"Mai…" I heard in the darkness. "Mai…" It was getting closer. "Mai!" I tried finding the energy to open my eyes, but couldn't. "Mai, wake up!" I knew that voice, it sounded a lot like Naru. But he couldn't shout my name like that.

I felt something warm against my neck. "Her pulse is weak and she's barely breathing," another voice said, this one sounding much older. It most likely Lin's voice.

"Go in and get some help," the first voice said. "I'll stay here and look after her."

"But, Naru-" the second shouted.

"Go!"

I couldn't believe Naru was the one that was shouting my name. It was so hard to believe. I tried my best to open my eyes to see the expression on his face, but instead I fell back out of consciousness.

When I finally managed to find my strength, after who knows how long, I opened my eyes only to be blinded by the sun. But I was still able to make out two shadows.

"Mai!" one said. "Are you alright?"

I blinked a few times and regained my focus. "Naru?" I muttered. Indeed it was Naru, along with Lin. Both looking rather concerned.

"You gave us quite the scare," Lin said, giving a small and very rare smile. "You heart had stopped for a moment.

I gave a small nod, even though I was freaking out inside. I sat up with Lin's help and gave a grateful smile to both of them.

"What did you see, Mai?" Naru said, looking me in the eye. I noticed there was something different when I looked into the blue orbs. Worriment? Na, couldn't be. Concern? Maybe. But certainly not worriment.

I explained the dream to both Naru and Lin. Even speaking of it was horrifying. I was holding back my tears, but I couldn't keep all them behind.

"Hey guys!"

I looked up with Naru and Lin, shocked to see four familiar faces; Monk, Ayako, John, and Yasu. All were smiling down at me, until they actually saw my tears.

Ayako's eyes went wide as if surprised. "What happened, Mai?"

Monk glared at Naru. "Naru, what did you do?"

Naru closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "Why do you figure I did something?" he muttered. "Mai had one of her dreams again." Naru then stood to his feet.

"What?" everyone said, surprised.

Ayako kneeled next to me, just like Naru had done. "Are you alright?" she said, looking me over.

I smiled and nodded. I glanced up at Naru, only to see him looking at me with crossed arms. But he soon looked away with a huff.

I glared and gritted my teeth together. _What does he have to be angry about? _I thought.

"She'll be fine," Naru said. "We brought her back and she's not dead. She had slight bruising but she'll live. So, stop worrying and let's get to work." Naru then walked past everyone and went toward the manor.

I tilted my head, just now seeing the manor. It was a large manor with many windows. It looked old and things looked like they were falling off. Brown wood with black roofs. Scare from the looks.

"Brought back?" Monk questioned as he crossed his arms. "What does he mean by that Lin?"

Everyone looked at Lin, who was now standing next to me. "Her heart stopped momentarily, but if he wasn't here then she'd be dead."

"He?" Ayako repeated.

"You mean you didn't revive her?" Yasu said, pointing a finger at Lin.

Lin sighed once again, as if the questions were stupid. Even I was confused as to what was going on.

"I was in the manor when her heart stopped," Lin said. "So, logically, it was Naru who revived her."

Everyone's eyes widened and looked at me.

_Naru revived me? _I thought, my face turning red at just the thought.


	2. Chapter 2

I was sitting of the SPR van, looking at the eerie manor in front of me. It was the same one from my dream, or I think it was. I never got to see the outside of the room. I shivered, remembering the corpses.

Naru walked past me, grabbing a monitor and walking away.

I quickly stood to my feet and said, "Naru, I can do that! You don't have to-"

"Sit down, Mai," Naru demanded giving me a glance over his shoulder. He then began walking further away toward the manor.

"He's right ya know?" John said grabbing a bunch of cables and slinging them over his shoulder. "You should be resting, recovering your strength."

I sighed right when Ayako walked up. "What are you sighing about?" She crossed her arms, looking rather angry. "I broke a nail doing this!"

"Stop complaining you old hag," Monk said, rubbing his neck.

Ayako slapped Monk in the back of the head, making me and John laugh. The two then began arguing about complaining. But I wasn't really focused on listening to the conversations.

Once I finally caught my breath, I sighed. "I think I'm going to go take a look around…" I then began walking away.

"Mai," Monk shouted after me, "Naru told you to stay here! It's dangerous to go alone!"

I looked over my shoulder and waved. "I'll be fine!" I was then in the manor before I could hear them say anything else. I smiled and laughed to myself, but when I looked up, I was a bit surprised. The green floor and marble staircase of the main hall were the same from my dream. The dream began filling my head again, making my terror come back.

I slowly walked further toward the stairs, resting my hand on the railing. I jumped when a scene flashed before my eyes.

A woman stood here, right where I was. Her eyes were an icy blue, giving me a small shiver down my spine. Her white, silk, dress was covered in blood and so was her light brown hair.

I blinked and she was gone. I tightened my grip on the railing and shivered. _Why was she covered in blood? _I questioned. _What happened here? _For some reason, instead of turning around and heading back to the van, I began making my way up the stairs.

I was walking down a hall, tan wallpaper and the same green floor below my feet. I was curious about this place, it drew a lot of my attention. But I still was wondering what was going on here. I've only been here for a few minutes and I've already almost died and I already saw two visions, if you'd call them that.

I stopped walking and looked around. "Great… I'm lost." The house was large in size, so I couldn't blame myself for getting lost. But I had to since I was paying attention to where I was going.

_Guess I should find my way back before anyone worries… _I thought as I began walking back the way I came. _Knowing when I get back I won't hear the end of it from Naru or Monk…_

I froze in my steps, feeling the temperature drop. I looked around, but nothing was there. But I had _felt _something was there. But soon, the temperature rose. It was like it just passed by, like a train or a breeze.

I began walking again, but I stopped once again. I heard crying, a woman crying. I looked around and saw someone sitting near the wall. A woman with long brown hair and a white dress. Her knees were to her chest and her head covered by her arms.

I walked forward. "Are you alright?" I asked, wondering why the woman was sitting in the hall

The woman didn't answer me, she just continued crying.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to get her to talk. But that was a big mistake. She stopped crying, but when I saw her eyes, I was terrified. Icy blue, her throat had a slit through it as she looked up, and it seemed the blood had poured out onto her dress.

I backed away slowly, hoping to make into a room or make it down the stairs before anything.

The woman stood and tilted her head at, a smile coming to show. "You'll pay…"

I continued to back up, not wanting to look behind me to see where I was going.

"You'll pay for what you did…" the woman muttered.

My eyes widened when I saw her pull out a knife, with a thin and sharp blade. My breathing became quicker as I began to panic. You would think I would be able to control myself when I see a ghost or something, with me working with SPR. But no, I couldn't. I'm going to admit, I've never been so scared in my life.

I tripped on the rug and landed on my behind. But my eyes never left the woman. Her smile got bigger and she lunged forward at me. I soon found a loud scream leave my lungs.

* * *

*Third Person's point of view*

Naru was coming toward the van, getting more equipment to take to the room where they set up HQ. But he stopped when a certain brown haired girl was no where near the other three. Naru, being the way he was, didn't panic. But he couldn't say he didn't worry a bit.

"Where's Mai?" Naru demanded as he walked up to Monk, John, and Ayako.

The others looked at each other and then at Naru.

"She said she was going to look around," Ayako said.

Naru felt anger building up in him, or was it different? "And you let her go alone? After what just happened?" Naru's voice was raised and the other knew he was angry at her for disobeying orders.

"She didn't listen when we tried stopping her, Naru," Monk said, crossing his arms.

"But, she's be gone for awhile now," John said, putting a hand to his chin. "She said she was coming right back."

"I wonder if something happened…" Ayako muttered.

Soon enough, a faint scream was heard from the building. Everyone looked toward the building, knowing the scream came from…

"Mai!" Monk said, beginning to run toward the building. But he wasn't first one. Right after hearing the scream, Naru was the first one to run toward the building. Monk following close behind with Ayako and John also.


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed after I screamed, the woman vanished without a trace. But I still didn't move from my spot. What would I do if she came back? I could use that chant Monk taught me, but I didn't feel it would get rid of her.

"Mai!" a voice shouted from behind me. But I couldn't get my body to turn around. I knew the voice was from Yasu, and when he kneeled in front of me, that was confirmed. Lin was also with him, kneeling on the opposite side.

"What happened?" Yasu asked me. But my words weren't coming out. My mouth opened, but that was it. It was as if my voice had suddenly left me.

_What's wrong with me? _I thought.

"Mai!" Yasu yelled, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. But I still didn't respond. I saw what was going on, but my mind had no control over my movements. It was like something was gripped around me, and that was probably fear. This was worse then how I felt when we went to that Bloodstained Labyrinth, and that was pretty bad.

"What happened?" two other voices had shouted. It wasn't Yasu or Lin. Instead it sounded like Naru and Monk.

"We don't know," Yasu answered. "She hasn't said anything, or moved since we got here."

John, Ayako, Monk, and Naru were now standing behind Lin and Yasu on either side of me.

"Mai?" Ayako asked calmly, giving a concerned look at me. But I still didn't respond.

"She's in shock right now," Lin said. "Whatever she witnessed just now has left her unable to answer."

Still nothing came out of my open mouth. _Say something, Mai! _I thought. But still nothing came out. I looked at each of the people standing in front of me; Naru giving a scowl; Monk's eyebrows furrowed in worriment; Lin as expressionless as ever; and Yasu, John, and Ayako both looking at me worried. I was concerning them, I needed to let them know what happened and tell them I'm fine. But how when my body won't do anything?

"Mai, blink once for no, twice for yes," Lin told me. "Can you hear us?"

I blinked twice, luckily I still have control over a few things.

Everyone gave a relived sigh. "Are you hurt anywhere?" Yasu asked.

I blinked once, I don't think I was hurt. I didn't feel pain, but if I hadn't screamed there was a big chance I could have been dead.

Naru crossed his arms and turned his back to us, beginning to walk away down the hall. Monk looked over his shoulder, watching him. He said something, but my ears drew it out. I didn't pay attention to their conversation, or any conversation really. My mind even was having trouble processing the questions getting thrown at me every which way.

"A woman," I said without realizing my actions. Everyone looked at me, a bit surprised. "A woman was sitting right there." I lifted my hand and pointed past Lin and everyone over to the wall, next to a door. "I thought she lived her, I asked her what was wrong and her name. But then she looked up… Her throat was cut and her dress was drenched in blood." My jaw tightened and my nails dug into the carpet. "She stood as I began backing away and next thing I knew she was holding a knife. She lunged and I screamed, but then she vanished."

Ayako ran past Yasu, gently pushing him aside and hugged me. I hadn't even realized that I began to cry. But Ayako wasn't the only one holding me, pretty soon even Monk was hugging me.

"Did she say something?" I heard Naru say.

I looked up, wondering if I heard him correctly. He was looking right at me, coldly with his arms still crossed. "Did she say something, Mai?" This time his voice was a lot more stern.

"Y-Yeah…" I muttered. Ayako and Monk backed away from me, looking at me surprised.

"What did she say?" Naru pressured.

I looked to my lap, trying to remember. "'You'll pay for what you did.'"

Everyone looked at Naru, even me. His expression hadn't changed. His hand was to his chin and he was looking down the hall, away from us. Something was wrong here, and Naru wasn't explaining what.

"What are you thinking, Naru?" Monk asked, standing to his feet. He placed a hand on his hip. The feeling Monk was giving off was as if he was asking for a fight, which I knew he wasn't.

"I'm wondering why a spirit would be holding a knife…" Naru said. "Let alone, try killing Mai. It's not un common, but I can't help but wonder." Naru looked up and to John. "What do make of this, John?"

I looked at John, noticing her was just looking at the floor until Naru spoke to him. "Well," John said, "I can't say there's much I can say. It's strange, yes, seeing as how we just got here and spirits are already drawing-especially to Mai."

"So, we agree then," Monk said. "There's not much to go on right now."

Naru looked at Monk. "Monk, take Mai to base." Monk lifted an eyebrow, but after getting a small glare from Naru, Monk looked at me. He helped me up and we were about to walk off, but Monk stopped-wanting to hear the rest of what Naru was going to say. "Yasu and Ayako, I want you to set up cameras in the rooms." Naru looked at John. "John, I want you to go with Monk and Mai, just in case anything happens. We don't know whether the ghost will come after someone else or go after Mai again." John nodded in response.

"What about you?" Ayako asked, crossing her arms.

Naru didn't answer Ayako's question. He simply began walking down the hall with Lin following.

I looked over my shoulder, watching Naru walk away as I got further away with Monk and John. There was something wrong here, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

* * *

**Author Note: Hi everyone. I'm terrible sorry if the characters don't seem like themselves. I've only watched and read this anime twice and it is still very difficult understanding everything. But I'm trying my best with my knowledge and with what help I can get. I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy the story. I'm sorry if the plot seems rushed in, I can guaranty, this isn't a five chapter story or any short story. I can tell you: it will be long. Again, I apologize if the characters aren't correct in personality or if anything they say doesn't quite go with…information and what not. But I still hope you can enjoy the story.**

**Feel free to comment, in fact it is welcomed!**


	4. Chapter 4

I sat on the couch, listening to Lin typing at his computer. I had been sitting there for what felt like hours. I wished to help everyone with the case, but whenever I tried, Naru just told me to sit down.

The door to the room opened and I looked over. Naru, John, and Monk had walked in. Monk sighed and collapsed on the couch.

"Welcome back," I said.

John smiled at me and Monk gave me a grin in return. I looked at Naru and saw he had completely shrugged off my welcome. _What's his problem? _I thought.

"Hey, Naru," I said.

Naru glanced up from the papers he was showing Lin and looked at me. "What is it, Mai?"

I folded my hands in my lap and tilted my head. "I've been meaning to ask, where are the owners of the house?"

"That's a good question," Monk said, looking at Naru also.

Naru looked back to his papers. "There are no owners of the house, as of late. I got the case from a real-estate woman. She explained what was happening and I decided to check it out. Anymore questions?"

I crossed my arms, really hating his attitude toward me at the moment. It wasn't my fault that a ghost decided to attack me! Or for me to have that vision! Or see that-

I then remembered that same vision at the stairwell. _That's right… _I thought. _I didn't tell Naru about that… _I looked at Naru, seeing him pointing things out on the paper to Lin. _Eh, oh well, it was probably nothing of importance anyway… _

"Mai?"

I turned my head and looked at Monk and John. Both were looking at me, again looking concerned.

"Is everything alright?" John asked.

I heard Lin's typing stop and I looked over to him, only to see him and Naru looking at me now. I raised my hands in defense. "I'm fine! You know, not every time I zone out means I saw something or I'm not alright!"

Naru and Lin shrugged off what I said and continued with their work. I looked back at Monk and John. Both were looking at me suspiciously.

"What?" I said.

Monk lifted an eyebrow. "What were you thinking about?"

I shook my hands in the air and smiled. "Nothing important, really!"

"Really, Mai?" John asked. "It seemed to be bothering you."

I scratched the back of my neck and reverted my gaze. The pressure was overwhelming between these two.

"Mai," Naru said, leaning against the table and looking at me, "if you have something on your mind, just spit it out."

I glared at him, that comment was completely unnecessary.

"Well," I said, "it was about that ghost that attacked me in the hall…"

Monk and John's expressions changed into a serious and more perplexing look, while Naru stayed the same.

"What about her?" Monk asked.

"She looked a bit similar to a woman I saw earlier, before the incident in the hall…" I looked at everyone, all their eyes were wide open. I might have said something that angered them.

"And you're just now mentioning this?" Naru said. His tone was cold, and I knew he was _really _angry.

"He's right," Monk said.

"You should have told us earlier, Mai," John said calmly. His calmness made me feel a bit better. But I knew it was the calm before the storm.

"Well, I didn't think it was important…and so…"

"Not important?" Naru said, walking closer to me. "Everything we learn is crucial to this case, Mai. If you see something, you tell me, got it?"

"G-Got it," I said. Naru was actually pretty scary right now. His eyes were cold, but colder then normal.

The door to the room opened before anyone else could get another words out. We looked over to the door to see Ayako and Yasu, panting.

"You guys look like you've been running from something," Monk said, giving an amused smiled.

"Did something happen?" Naru asked.

Ayako shook her head franticly. "N-Nothing happened," she said through her breaths. "But it seems we've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Naru said, his tone the same one he used to me earlier.

Yasu finally caught his breath and continued with what Ayako was saying. "It seems that we left one camera in the van, so Ayako and I tried going out and getting it. But-"

"What do mean _tried_?" Monk asked.

"You see, that's the problem." Yasu was about to continue talking, but Ayako quickly cut in, getting straight to the point. "No matter how hard we tried, the door wouldn't open!"

_You mean, we're stuck here? _I thought, bringing my hand to cover my mouth.

Naru began walking past Ayako and Yasu, making his way towards the door.

"Where are you going, Naru?" Monk said, standing to his feet.

"Going to see our problem," Naru replied as he left.

I got up and ran out after him, hearing Monk and Ayako shouting for me to come back. But I wasn't going to listen. I need to see for myself if we're really stuck in this manor!

* * *

We were all standing in front of the front door, watching as Monk and Lin tried busting the door down. But it wasn't working, nothing was. Monk even grabbed a chair and tried busting the windows, but they didn't break. _We're really stuck here… _

"It's no use…" Monk said, breathing deeply. "We're trapped."

We all stood there in silence. I put my hand up to my mouth, biting my nails nervously. _Are we really supposed to stay here in this freakish manor? _I thought. _There's no way that we can be stuck! We have to find a way out of here!I_

A chill soon ran down my neck and I quickly turned around. But no one was there, just the empty stairs.

"Mai?" I heard Naru say. I snapped my head back and looked at him. But I just soon looked to the ground.

Soon the lights flickered off, causing us to get startled. I looked up to the ceiling, wondering what happened.

"Think it's a power failure?" I heard Yasu say.

"Or is it a spirit?" Ayako said.

I looked around, trying to see through the darkness. But I couldn't make out anything. But in the distance I could hear a flute. It sounded like it was coming from upstairs.

"Does anyone else hear that?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.

"A flute?" I heard John ask.

I took a step back, only to stop in my tracks. "You…" a voice whispered. My fears were staring to build. I looked around, but still couldn't see anything. "I won't…" The voice was closer. I soon felt something grab my shoulder. I jumped and looked down, only to see a hand coming out from the darkness. "I won't allow you to leave…" The voice was right near my ear.

I screamed and attached myself to the nearest thing, which I thought was John's arm. The hand vanished and the lights flickered back on, but I had my eyes shut. I opened my eyes, seeing everyone looking at me a bit startled.

"Are you alright, Mai?" Ayako said.

"A-A-A h-h-h-hand!" I screamed.

"Not so loud," Naru said. But, where was Naru? Ayako, Monk, Lin, Yasu, and John were right in front of me, but where was… Wait, John? But I thought I was… I looked up to see Naru looking right down at me, his hand gently resting against my head. I slowly let go of Naru's arm and backed away a bit.

"What's this about a hand?" Monk asked, turning me around to face them.

As soon as he reminded me about the hand, I began freaking again. "A hand resting on my shoulder and I-I heard a voice!"

"A voice?" Naru repeated, crossing his arms.

"Yeah," I looked at him, frantic. "It said, 'I won't allow you to leave'!"

Naru looked away from me, placing his hand at his chin.

"This is getting out of hand, Naru," Monk said.

Naru didn't answer.

"I thought ghosts were afraid of people they didn't recognize," Yasu said. "Isn't there usually 24 hours before ghostly activity is seen?"

"He's right!" I shouted, pointing at Yasu. I had completely forgotten about that. I turned back to Naru, seeing him deeper in thought. "What's going on, Naru?" Naru didn't answer. Now I was sure something was going on that he couldn't even fully explain.

"Do we have a poltergeist on our hands?" Ayako asked.

"It sure seems that way…" Naru replied. "But, there doesn't seem to be _just _one either." Naru looked up and at me. "And they all seem to be after Mai. Not one has tried attacking John or anyone else. But _why _Mai is the target, is something we don't know." Naru looked at the others. "The only thing to do know is to protect Mai and try figuring out this case as fast as possible."

Naru pointed at Ayako. "Ayako, I want you to watch over Mai tonight. If anything happens-"

"Yeah, yeah," Ayako shooed Naru. "I got it…"

"Monk and John," Naru said, pointing to them, "I want you to help me with looking around, gathering data. And Yasu," Naru looked at him, "I want you trying to find anything you can about this place."

"With what?" Yasu asked, shrugging. "The library?"

"Yes."

Naru looked to Lin. "Lin, I want you to watch the monitors and notify me of anything strange." Lin nodded.

Naru, Monk, and John began making there way up the stairs.

_Wow…_ I thought, glaring at the back of Naru's head. _He's really taking full charge of this case. I wonder what bit him in gear. _I shrugged as I began walking with Ayako. _Whatever it is… I just hope we solve this case and put a stop to this ghost…or ghosts…_

* * *

**Author Note: I apologize is this chapter was confusing in anyway. I tried my best sticking with personality and words that would most likely be said. I'm re watching the series and I noticed a few things I might have messed up on. And I fully apologize with that. But I hope, other then my cheesy mistakes, that the story is good. I hope you all will enjoy it.**

**Thank you for reading. Look forward to you reading the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

I was looking up at the ceiling of the room Ayako had taken me to. It was the nearest to base, actually really near seeing as base was just a wall away. Naru even had set up a camera in the room, which just freaked me out a bit.

"Mai," Ayako said, "you should get some sleep. A lot happened today."

"How can I sleep with the thought of knowing ghosts are everywhere around me?" I shouted, sitting up quickly.

"Relax," a voice came from the doorway. Ayako and I looked over to see Monk and John standing there. "You'll be just fine. Can't trust us?" Monk said with a grin.

"That's not it," I said. I looked to my hands. I was still stuck on that creepy hand. And the questions just kept building. Why am I being attacked? What happened here? Who are these people I keep seeing? When are we going to get answers?

"You know," John said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "Ayako's right. You need your rest, Mai."

I nodded and laid down. The three smiled at me.

"We'll be right here," Monk said. "Plus if we can't cover ya, the base is just right next door!"

"Don't forget," Ayako said, pointing to the camera pointing right at us. "We have watchful eyes."

I laughed along with my friends. "Thanks guys…" I muttered before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

I began waking up, feeling the warm sun beating down on my face from the open window. I sat up in the bed and looked around. _Did I sleep until morning? _I thought, placing my feet onto the carpet.

"No!" I heard someone shout. I quickly turned my head. Instead of seeing the wall of the bedroom, I saw the living room in front of me. Standing there was a man standing above a woman. Her hand to her cheek and tears running down her face.

"How dare you do something so disgraceful!" the man shouted, slapping the woman.

_Stop! _I thought, jumping to my feet. But as soon as I got to my feet, the scene changed. Now I was standing in a bedroom, different from the one I was standing in. The only difference being that there was a baby crib and a man sitting in a nearby chair. I gasped, being shocked by the sight. The man was dead, in the chair.

The woman I saw earlier was standing over the crib, a smile on her face. The smile was unnerving, scaring even me. The woman raised her hand, a knife laying in her grasps.

_No, you can't! _I thought, about to jump forward. But something gripped my hand keeping me from moving. I turned around to see Naru looking at me. He shook his head at me.

I looked back, but before I could see the woman drop the blade. The scene changed again. The main hall was where we were standing now, just me and Naru.

"What's going on, Naru?" I asked, looking at him.

"Your in danger here, Mai," he said. "You need to leave."

"But-" before I could continue, he vanished. "Naru?" I shouted, but no answer. I turned around fully, only to find myself in the room filled with bodies once again. The blood on the walls was running, and the steps I took made blood gush from the carpet. I turned around, wondering if I was going to get stabbed again. But it seems not.

I looked towards the stairs, seeing the woman from earlier standing there. Her hand was on the railing and she was looking up. A smile on her face and blood running down her. She muttered something and then walked up the stairs.

I did what my mind was telling me to do, and I followed her. She stopped in the bedroom I was resting in. She walked over to the balcony and stood there, looking up at the sky.

_I have a bad feeling about this… _I thought, taking steps toward her.

She turned around and looked at me, smiling. She again said something that I couldn't quite hear, and then she fell off the balcony.

That's when I woke up.

I quickly looked around the room, I was back in the bedroom at the manor. The camera sitting right across from me and the sound of people talking right outside the door. I could hear them, seeing as it was a bit too quite. It was Monk, Yasu, and Naru.

"Were you able find anything?" Naru had asked.

"Yeah," Yasu answered. "But it didn't turn out to be good."

"At this point nothing is good," Monk said. "As long as we get answers."

"Well," Yasu said, "it seems that there was a record of everyone who's owned the house since it was built. But it suddenly stopped ten years ago, with the Saromi family. I found a few journals, but the pages were ripped out. But other then this, I found nothing."

"At least we have somewhere to start," Naru said.

_I thought he would have an idea at least… _I thought as I heard them leave after a few more words.

I stretched and stood to my feet. _I think I should rinse my face off… _I walked past the camera, over to the bathroom. For an old house it was in pretty good shape, even with working plumbing. But that was probably because they were getting ready to sell the house again.

I shut the door behind me, turning on the light also. I looked around me, seeing nothing strange. I walked over to the sink and looked at it, turning on the water. I closed my eyes, splashing my face with the water from the filled up sink. I paused for a moment, feeling a small blow of wind. I looked up, quickly and into the mirror. A smiling face was looking back at me.

"I'll do to you what you did to me, Mihoko," it said.

I began backing away, but before I could I found my face pushed into the sink. I struggled but I could get up for air.

* * *

*Third Person P.O.V.*

"How are things looking?" Naru said as he walked into the room with Yasu and Monk behind him.

"Nothing's gone wrong yet," Lin answered. He looked over the data once more, still finding nothing strange.

"At least she's safe for now," Monk said, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm surprised she's not freaking out so much," Ayako said. "If I were her, I wouldn't be able to sleep."

Monk laughed. "But that's you, Old Hag!" Soon Ayako slapped him on the back of the head like she did every so often with him. Soon the two began to fight, making John and Yasu laugh as well.

"We have problem!" Lin said, typing at his computer as quickly as possible.

"What is it?" Naru said.

The room went silent.

"The temperature in the bedroom dropped considerably," Lin continued.

"Mai!" everyone shouted.

Naru and Lin were quickly out the door and ran into the bedroom. They knew where Mai was already from watching the tape. Lin tried opening the door, but it turned out to be locked.

"Move!" Monk shouted. Naru and Lin stepped aside and watched Monk kick the door. He tried twice and soon the door was off it hinges.

The three men ran into the bathroom, finding Mai with her head under water. She was trying her hardest to get back up, but it wasn't working.

Monk shouted his usual chant and whatever was holding Mai was gone.

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V.*

The hand on my neck finally was gone and I was able to pull myself out from under the water. But I raised myself up to fast and ended up falling back. Before I was able to hit the wall or floor, arms caught me. I looked up to see Naru had caught me and was now sitting with me on the wet floor.

"Mai, are you alright?" Monk shouted, running to our side.

I nodded franticly. I rested my back against Naru, finding myself out of energy. But he didn't seem to mind, which I didn't understand.

I felt a hand lift up my hair from the back of my neck and tip my head forward. My face immediately flushed red.

"Why would a ghost be making so many attempts on Mai's life?" Monk asked.

The hand removed from my neck and I was able to look up. My face probably flushed even more when my eyes met with Naru's, but I quickly looked away.

"This ghost must be really pissed off," Ayako said, joining all of us in the bathroom.

I took deep breath and said, "It called me Mihoko…"

"Mihoko?" Naru repeated.

I looked at him and nodded.

"At least we have a name…" Yasu said. "But it sounds familiar."

"Wasn't there a Mihoko in those records you found?" John said.

Yasu looked to the ceiling and nodded. "I think it was…" Yasu looked at Naru. "So, the ghost is looking for revenge?"

"Ghosts…" I said. "There's more then one."

"Right…"

I felt Naru's hand on my arms and I looked up at him. "For now you should get some rest," he said.

"Me? Get rest after that?" I shouted. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a week!"

I saw Naru roll his eyes. He lifted me off the ground and stood to his feet, letting me go when I was also standing.

"We probably won't get much sleep with things the way they are," Monk said. "It's a good idea to have someone watching Mai at all times. Right, Naru?"

I looked at Naru only to find him looking at the sink. His eyes weren't leaving it, no matter how much Monk talked.

"So," Monk said, putting his hands on his hips, "who's babysitting first?"

Ayako shook her head. "Sorry, I already did it!" She then walked out.

"Guess it's between the three of us," Monk said, looking at John and Naru.

"Why not Lin?" I asked, noticing he was out.

"I already have a job," Lin said.

I smiled even though I was ticked off by the comment. But it was Lin's way of speaking, so I couldn't be fully mad.

"I'll do it," Naru said. We all looked at him, surprised. "I have research to conduct anyway… Might as well kill two birds with one stone."

"Then it's settled," Monk said, smiling. He patted me on the head and then left with the others. "Good luck!"

_I have a bad feeling…_

* * *

**Authors Note: I'm sorry if this chapter felt rushed or didn't fit your expectations. I'm trying my best with character personality and things. But I do hope you enjoyed either way.**


	6. Chapter 6

I most likely had two hours until morning. Only two hours. I could survive until then, right? Apparently I was wrong. I couldn't last that long.

I shifted my gaze over to Naru. He was sitting calmly in the chair next to the bed I was laying in. His legs crossed and his hands busy at the computer. He hadn't said a word since he volunteered to watch over me.

_Say something, Naru!_

"What is it, Mai?" It was like he read my mind.

I blinked and realized Naru was looking right at me. His eyes and expression as cold as usual.

I opened my mouth, about to say. "Nothing." But Naru spoke before me.

"Didn't I tell you: When you have something to say, say it?" he said, lifting an eyebrow slightly.

"Y-Yeah…" I felt my face rise in temperature and I was praying Naru didn't notice.

Naru looked back to his computer, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Then spit it out already."

I gave a small glare and sighed. Right when I thought he was being nice, he goes and says something like that.

"Fine," I said. "I just can't stop thinking about that "Mihoko' person."

I could tell Naru was annoyed with me, just by how he rolled his eyes and looked back at his laptop.

"If you're worried about this situation you're in," he said, "then don't. There's nothing to worry about."

"But, Naru," I said, leaning forward, "I've been attacked four times since we got here! And you still say there's nothing to worry about?"

"Mai…"

"And we're locked into this creepy manor! We have no way of contacting the outside world or getting anything we need!"

"Mai."

"On top of that, we don't know what we're dealing with. We know there's a number of sprits that are trying to kill me, but we don't why."

"Mai!"

I stopped talking, hearing Naru slam his laptop shut. I looked at him, seeing him looking at me. I just made him even angrier, I could tell by the scowl. He had a lot to deal with, and I knew that. But it seemed that me getting hurt and everything was just bothering his work.

"Stop worrying," Naru said. "We have things under control."

"But-"

Before I was able to finish, Naru had continued with what he was saying. "You've been working with me long enough to understand that you can have faith in me. Trust me." Naru's eyes softened, even thought he wasn't smiling. "I'll protect you if everything else fails."

I felt heat rising in my face. _Did he really just say that? _I thought. Yeah, he did just say that.

"After all," Naru said, opening his laptop again, "who would watch out for you if not me?"

And there is was, he just had to ruin it, didn't he?

"You just have to ruin my happiness, don't you?" I mumbled.

"Did you say something, Mai?" Naru looked up, lifting an eyebrow.

I looked away and laid down. "I didn't say anything, jerk!" I then wrapped the blanks around me and hid under them. I knew Naru was glaring at me, but I didn't care.

_Of course it was too good to be true… _I thought as I closed my eyes. But before I fell asleep, I could swear I heard Naru say, "Don't worry."

* * *

**Sorry for it being short, and Naru being a bit OOC. Or anything that was wrong with this chapter. Sorry about being late, please to burn me. Thank you for reading. Btw, this isn't the end. I just couldn't think of what else to write. :P**


	7. Chapter 7

Everything started getting worse when the next day came. I had been sitting in base camp as ordered by Naru. I wanted to go out and help everyone find something that could help us lead to who the ghosts were. But Naru quickly yelled and said it's too dangerous for me and that I was supposed to stay at base camp until further notice. So, I listened, unwillingly.

I sat there, watching the monitors while Len typed at his computer. Yasu was in the library once again, looking for more information on Mihoko; Naru was investigating the other rooms with Monk; and John and Ayako were investigating the door.

"This is so boring!" I shouted. I looked at Len to see him glaring at me, I gave him a nervous smile and took my seat back on the couch. "I wonder why the ghosts are deciding to attack me instead of the others…" I was mostly talking to myself, just because Len refused to have a conversation with me. "I get that they want revenge on this Mihoko person… But that's all I really understand…"

I looked towards the monitors again, but it was a bad idea. Because when I looked at them I saw a figure standing behind Ayako. She was looking directly at the camera.

"Len!" I shouted, causing Len to look at me. "Someone's behind Ayako!" I pointed to the monitor, shivering at the cold eyes looking at me.

Len looked to the monitor, and it seemed he had told Ayako. But I didn't expect the next words I heard.

"Nothing's there, Mai," Len told me. That just got me even more nervous. I could clearly see it! It was right there, right behind Ayako!

"What do you mean 'nothing's there'?!" I shouted, standing to my feet. "How can you not see her?!"

"_What are you talkin' about, Mai?" _I heard John say. _"Nothin's in here."_

I walked over to the monitors, watching the figure closely. It was still behind Ayako, looking at me. It scared me that I was the only one able to see it. But it wouldn't be the first time.

I rested my hands on the desk and looked closely at the monitor.

"Turn around, Ayako!" I shouted.

Ayako turned _around_, and that's when Naru called in with Monk.

"_What's going on there?" _Naru, of course, sounded angry as usual. But when Monk asked it was like a completely different feeling.

"Mai says she sees something behind Miss Matsuzaki," Len said. "But-"

"It's right there!" I shouted, pointing at the screen. "It's clear as day! Ayako's looking right at it!"

It was true, after I told Ayako to turn around, she was looking directly at it. But the ghost never looked at Ayako, only at me with a smile.

"_Nothing's here, Mai!" _Ayako said. _"You're really starting to freak me out…"_

"I'm freaking you out?!" I shouted. "It's looking right at me! If anyone should be freaked out it would be me!"

"_Are you sure you don't see anything?" _Monk had asked.

"_Positive!" _Ayako said, now looking around.

"_We're coming down there," _Naru had said. I then watched Naru and Monk make their way from where they were to the hall John and Ayako were. But right after Naru said that, the ghost disappeared.

"It's gone…" I muttered. I looked at every monitor, but still couldn't find that ghost.

_You're never going to find us… _something whispered in my ear. I covered my ears and quickly turned around, but nothing was there.

"I think it would be best to come back to base," Len told the others. I suspected I didn't look to good. My blood pressure had elevated and my breathing turned into panting. I felt like I was going nuts, if I wasn't there already.

My head had began to hurt and it felt like the room was spinning. I dropped to my knees and covered my ears. I heard things in the room, even though they weren't there. I was beginning to have a nauseating feeling in my stomach, as if I was on a rollercoaster. I finally felt like I had reached the top of the "You're nuts" meter.

"Mai!" Monk had ran through the door and was by my side before I knew it. Along with Ayako and John.

"It hurts!" I shouted. "They won't shut up!"

"Calm down, Mai," Ayako said, patting my shoulder. "Who won't shut up?"

_I hope you loss your mind._

I shook my head, refusing to listen. But the voices just continued to ring.

Then suddenly it was silent, literally. I couldn't hear Ayako, Len, John, Monk, or Naru. The voice had stopped and I was beginning to calm. But when I opened my eyes, I didn't expect to be where I was.

I was in a hall, somewhere else in the house. I stood to my feet and looked around. Just like any other hall in the house that I had gone down. But it felt different, scary. I didn't know where I was.

"Where are you taking me?" a woman asked. I looked around but saw no one.

"To a special room."

I turned around and looked over my shoulder. I was standing in front of a door. It was different from the brown ones around the house. It was a black door with a gold handle. I reached for the handle, thinking that was where I needed to go. But when I opened the door, I was met with stairs.

_Stairs? _I thought. Before I could comprehend what I was doing, I was walking down them.

I was near the last step, when I was suddenly blinded by light.

My vision was blurry and I began to hear voices again. But they weren't the strange ones I had been hearing earlier, they were familiar.

"It's getting too dangerous here!" It was Monk. "These attacks are becoming more frequent, Naru!"

"What do you suggest we do?" Naru was speaking now, and my vision was becoming more clearer. "We can't very well leave. Or have you forgotten, we're stuck. We have no option but to stay and solve this case." I knew Naru was ticked from Monk pressing him, just telling by how he sounded. But he was also tense. "If we had the option to leave, we would."

"Then what do we do?" John has said. "We can't very well leave things the way they are. And the library isn't giving us much information on 'Mihoko' or the previous family. We need to find a way out of here."

I opened my eyes and turned my head. No one had noticed that I was awake it seemed, until I spoke.

"There is no way out of here…"I muttered.

Everyone looked at me, suddenly I saw smiles on their faces.

"Mai!" Ayako said, running to my side. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I said, sitting up. "What happened?"

"You fainted…" Len said.

"I seem to be doing that a lot lately…" I muttered. But then my mind wondered to the door and stairs from my dream. "Hey, Naru…" I looked at him, and he at me. "When you were looking around the house, did you find a black door with a gold handle?"

"No, we didn't," Naru answered, crossing his arms. "There was no such door."

I looked to my hands and bit my lip. That wasn't possible, then again, it could. It's happened before. Maybe the door was hidden somewhere.

"What's with the questions, Mai?" Monk asked.

I looked up. "It's just that, after I fainted I dreamt of a black door with a gold handle. When I opened it, it led to stairs. When I finally reached the bottom, I woke up."

"Then we should find that door," Monk said, smirking. He looked at Naru. "Right?"

"Wait!" Ayako shouted. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"It being dangerous is a possibility," Naru said, putting a hand to his chin. "But if we want to figure out anything about the owners of this house, we need to follow the clues. And right now, our clue is a door."

"Um," I began, but then I stopped. Everyone looked at me, curiously. "I think I might know where that door is…"

* * *

**Sorry for the delay and I'm sorry if it's not all that good. I had trouble thinking of things, and I kind of wanted to torture a character... I'm cruel... Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry for the late update. I had so much trouble thinking about what else to write for this story. When I was writing this I was listening to the Ghost Hunt Theme… And it helped, strangely. But anyway…**

**Do enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

There we were, just me and Naru, standing in front a wall in one of the hallways in the house. I had gotten us lost, just because I was trying to find that stupid door I saw. But it seemed that in finding where the door is, we had gotten lost and separated from the others.

"Are you sure it's here, Mai?" Naru said, crossing his arms.

"Positive!" I shouted. I looked to the wall, biting my lip. "But I don't know why the door isn't here." It was true, all that was there was a wall, no door. _Maybe it was my imagination…_

Naru walked up to the wall and knocked against it. He repeated that a few times in different spots, and then he turned back to me. He flashed one of his rare smiles, or smirks if you want to call it.

"Good job, Mai," he said. "It seems that you were right. There is something here."

I smiled, placing my hands on hips. I finally got praised, which meant this was turning out to be a good day. That is after the whole video, ghost, thing.

Naru took a step back and kicked the wall. It seemed the wall was so old that it just gave way to his kick, making a large hole in it's place.

We leaned forward, peering into the empty room. Nothing was in there except dust and a door. To be exact, it was the door from my dream.

Naru stepped through the hole in the wall and strode towards the ominous door.

"Wait, Naru!" I shouted, following him. "Should we really go in without the others?"

Naru stopped walking and turned to look at him, half way. "You're not scared, are you, Mai?" Naru's tone had a certain smugness to it, making me get ticked off.

"Of course I'm scared!" I shouted. "You would be to if you were in my position!"

"Actually," Naru said, looking back to the door, "I wouldn't be."

I glared at Naru as he inspected the door. He reached for the handle and opened it, revealing stairs leading to a black abyss. I didn't know what was down there, therefore I was a lot more frightened when Naru began walking down the steps. But I stayed in the spot I was in.

Naru soon stopped and looked back at me. "Come on, Mai."

I shook my head. "There's something not right there, Naru. We shouldn't go down there!"

Naru looked away. I saw him roll his eyes and gave a small huff. But I couldn't get angry at it, my fear was the only emotion I felt right now.

Naru held out a hand and looked at me once again. "Take my hand, Mai." I lifted an eyebrow, but did as he said. He gripped my hand tightly and began continuing down the steps, making me follow.

Before I knew it, we reached the end. But it was to dark to see anything, but I knew Naru hadn't let go of my hand.

"Don't let go, Mai," I heard him say. "There's a good chance you'll get lost."

_What am I, a little kid?! _I thought, glaring into the blackness.

Something clicked and the room was lit by a flashlight, one Naru had kept in his pocket. But I wish he hadn't done that, because I was met with a horrifying picture.

A chair sat in the middle of a dull colored room. Attached to the chair were shackles keeping a skeleton in place there and on the floor were stains of blood. It looked almost like that room back in that other case, a little to much like it.

"N-Naru," I said, gripping his hand tighter, "I think we should leave…"

Naru didn't answer, because he was to busy looking behind us. I turned around only to see another door. This one looked just like the one we stepped through.

Naru took a step forward, going towards it, but I quickly yanked on his arm. He stopped and looked back at me. I couldn't stop shivering and my grip on his hand got tighter.

"You're hurting me, Mai," Naru said, calmly.

I looked into his eyes and then back to his hand. I let go of his hand and stuffed mine in my pockets. "S-Sorry… But I don't think…" I trailed off.

"Come on, Mai," Naru said, stepping towards the door again. "We won't be able to get out of this place without looking around thoroughly."

He was right, I just needed to buck up my courage and move forward. But that was easier said then done. I soon found myself moving, following Naru closely.

Naru opened the door and we both walked in, finding nothing but an empty room.

"That doesn't make since…" I muttered, as we walked further into the room. "Why would there be an empty room?"

"Most likely at one point this room was used," Naru said, looking around. "But you're right, why would there be an empty room here?"

Naru and I jumped when we heard the door slam behind us. Naru gripped the handle and tried opening it, but to no avail. We were trapped in a small room and no one knew we were here.

"_Glad you can join us…" _I voice whispered.

"N-Naru!" I shouted. "Please tell me you heard that!"

"Yes, Mai," Naru said.

We both turned around, backs towards the door. Standing behind us were figures, but not visible figures. They were all like giant blobs with mouths.

"_Welcome to the tea room," _another blob said. _"Would you like a cup of tea?"_

"N-Not really!" I shouted, backing into Naru. His hand gripped my shoulder firmly and I looked up at him, seeing him string right at the ghosts. The ghosts said nothing more, but just stared at Naru. It was strange really, but I could understand why.

After a minute or two, the ghosts vanished without another word.

"We need to get out of here before they decide to come back," Naru said, his hand leaving my shoulder and trying to open the door again. The door was still locked. We had no way of getting out.

I opened my mouth to say something, but a small crack was heard. It was as if tile was breaking. Soon I felt like I was falling, as if the ground from underneath me gave way. But how could it, we were on the bottom level? But before I knew what had happened, everything was pitch black.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't know how long it had been since I went unconscious, but it didn't feel long. I began to open my eyes, pain in my arms and legs beginning to show it's self. It felt like my limbs were on fire.

"Mai?" I turned my head to the side to see Naru sitting right next to me. His face was scratched and his clothes were tattered and dusty. My vision was still a bit blurry, but I could tell he wasn't smiling.

"Naru?" I said, my voice a bit horse. "W-What happened?"

"The floor collapsed," Naru answered, turning away from me. He flicked a pebble, making it skip across the floor. "It seems that it was over an old mineshaft. Floor was old and couldn't hold both our weight"-I felt a bit ticked at that, feeling like he was calling me fat, but I shrugged it off-"and the floor gave way..."

I sat up, feeling even worse now. My head hurt and it felt like a thousand bricks were on my chest. I looked down to find Naru's jacket had been resting under my head. I glanced up to Naru and then back down. I assumed that if I was knocked out in a situation, similar to this one, he would just lay me on the ground. But he was kind enough to let my head rest on something.

I looked up when I saw Naru stand to his feet. "We better get moving."

"Moving?" I said. "Moving where? We're in-"

"Think for a minute, Mai," Naru said, giving a small glare at me. "We're in a mineshaft, which means there must be an entrance somewhere."

"What about the others? They're still in the house, aren't they?"

Naru was silent for a moment, most likely thinking over what I just said. If we left, then that meant the others would be stuck in the house. We couldn't just leave them alone. _I_ couldn't.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Naru said, although if I didn't know him so well I would have believed that. But I knew even he had doubts about that.

Naru held out his hand to me, making me get out of my thoughts. I looked up, still no smile on his face.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

"I think so," I muttered. I took his hand and tried standing to my feet, but that was a bad idea. Because my legs gave out as soon as they had pressure on them, and the pain I was feeling was a lot worse now.

I stumbled, trying to get to my feet again, only to have myself fall into Naru. "Sorry…" My face flushed. He wasn't pushing me away, which was a bit strange considering he usually did.

Naru sighed, as if he was disapproving my pain. Although, I disapproved of it too, but his sigh made it sound like it was in his way. I felt like I was holding him back from continuing forward.

"That leaves no choice then…" Naru said.

I blinked a few times, then found myself not on the ground anymore. Naru had picked me up and began carrying me. My face flush again.

"N-Naru, put me down!" I shouted.

"Don't shout," Naru said, glaring at me. "Just hold with it for a little while." Naru then began walking forward, forgetting and ignoring any further objections from me.

I couldn't complain, I was comfortable in his arms. I was so comfortable that I found myself dozing off. My head hit Naru's chest and I could hear his heart beat that seemed louder and faster then his footsteps.

_That's funny… _I thought, a small and tired smile finding it's way on my face. _His heart is beating just as fast as mine… Maybe… _Before I could even finish my thought, I dozed off and found myself locked inside a nightmare.

* * *

My eyes opened and I found myself standing in the middle of a school yard.

"Mihoko!"

I quickly turned around, as if I was hearing my own name. A group of girl's were talking, three were smiling, but one wasn't. The three girls laughed and then ran off, leaving the other standing there stunned.

The girl standing there was none other then the girl I have seen jump from the balcony in my last dream. The only difference was that she was a bit younger.

Mihoko, the girl, looked over her shoulder and the look she gave to the backs of those other girls were that of pure hatred. A twisted smile crossed her lips and small chuckle left her lips. But she didn't say, or do, anything else. She simply walked away.

The scene changed into one that seemed like it was a few years later. It was the library where everyone is SPR was currently at, the one Yasu hadn't left ever since Naru's orders for research.

Mihoko was with a young man, black hair and a nice suit, and the two seemed close to each other.

"Mihoko," the young man said, their foreheads resting against each others, "I don't know if we can continue doing this. If-"

Mihoko put a finger to the man's lips and shushed him, wrapping her other arm around his neck. "I don't care if he finds out…" My face flushed when Mihoko and the man drew closer together. "Try as he will, but I will find a way to be with you, Yosai… I can't bare a minute without you."

"Mihoko…" Yosai whispered.

The two closed their distance into a kiss that I had only seen in movies. I actually felt like I was watching one of those sappy romance movies that I rarely got to watch because I got so many _few _days off.

Yosai pinned Mihoko to the bookshelf, making my face go redder when I saw his hands run over her, but my eyes just couldn't get away. Their kiss deepened and the two were all over each other, in plane words.

Mihoko began running her hands down Yosai, towards his chest as she fiddled with the buttons of the his suit. And that's when the library doors opened.

"Mihoko!" the old man that had walked in shouted.

"F-Father!" Mihoko said, both her and Yosai pulling away from each other. But neither bothered to fix their disheveled clothes.

"No!" I shouted as I saw Mihoko get pulled away from Yosai and pulled out the door, screaming for the person she loved the most. I found tears running down my face, just wondering what would happen.

The scene changed right when Yosai dropped to his knees.

It was beginning to play just like my last dream, Mihoko's father was yelling at her, slapping her as she cried. But no matter how many times her father yelled and told her to never see Yosai again, she just continued shouting that she loved him and didn't want him gone from her life.

The scene's changed quicker this time. A car burning into flames and Mihoko falling to her knees as she got news from her father. Another showing Mihoko grabbing a kitchen knife and carrying it into her parents chambers, where I watched her brutally murder her father and her baby sister as she laughed and cried at the same time. Her mother soon came in, where she was killed to.

"NO!" I screamed, but before I could touch anything, the scene changed again. It was the ballroom of the house. The lights lit the gold floor, and it was beautifully decorated. People were dancing and laughing. But that all changed and soon everyone was skeletons and dust, causing me to draw back in horror.

"Mai."

I turned around to find Naru right behind me. His expression seemed pained as he drew closer to me.

"N-Naru," I said, beginning to cry. "I don't understand! What's going on?"

"You need to leave, Mai," Naru said, standing in front of me. "It's too dangerous here. If you continue staying here, you'll die a horrible death by the people killed by her…"

"I know, Naru," I said, sniffing. "But I can't leave before I know why these people were killed. I need to know what happened!" Tears continued running down my face. "What happened to Yosai? Why did Mihoko kill her parents and baby sister? Who were those three girls I saw earlier? Who are the people that keep coming after me?" My tears began falling even more. I was terrified, for my life and my friends. But I couldn't get any answers from what I had been seeing in my dreams.

I felt Naru's arms wrap around me, something that had never happened before. My tears stopped and my fear was gone, getting replaced with shock. I looked up to see Naru looking down at me.

"Everything will get explained…" he said. "But when you do learn of this dreadful case, you can't turn back…" Naru leaned down and kissed my forehead, making my cheeks turn red. "You need to wake up, Mai. In order to help those who need peace."

I shut my eyes and smiled, finally being able to calm down and understand what was going on. "Thank you, Naru." The bright ballroom, and the loving embrace from Naru soon disappeared, leaving me to darkness.

* * *

**I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. And I apologize for the VERY LATE update. I couldn't get any ideas, and then I thought of these. By the way, I have no idea where this case is going... O_O I kind of forgot where it was supposed to go. So i'm trying my best with what I could remember. But I still hope you enjoyed.**

**Please leave comment! Thank you for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**OMG! I'm so sorry! I didn't-okay, I did realize that I hadn't updated this for awhile. But that's just because I wasn't thinking "Scary" lately. But now I am. =) Which means more horror and probably a lot worse then what as happened so far. I fell bad for Mai, but I like torturing her. XD Which is pretty sad… But this story is NOT Discontinued, it just might take me a long time to get an idea for this. I am working on two other stories, which is rather difficult.**

**But, I do hope this chapter makes up for the long wait. =)**

* * *

"A dead end?" I questioned. Although, it was a pretty stupid question because it was clearly obvious that we had reached a dead end.

"After all the years it's been open, it must have finally collapsed in the entrance," Naru said, looking over all the dirt that was blocking us from our _only_ exit.

I sighed. "Now what do we do?" I looked over my shoulder, seeing the dark corridor we had just came from. "Do we turn back?"

"It's the only thing we can do," Naru said, brushing past me and beginning to walk back. "There must be another exit somewhere in this place, we just need to find it…"

I gave another sigh and dragged my feet to follow Naru. We had been walking none stop, no rest or anything. The walking wasn't the only thing bugging me, it was also the silence. Naru wasn't saying anything, at all, and it was really bugging me.

"Hey, Naru," I said, walking next to him, "I have a question."

"Then ask it already," Naru said, continuing to look ahead instead of to me.

I gave a small glare. "Do you think love makes people do crazy things?"

I could have sworn Naru froze a bit, his stoic expression looking rather shocked when he looked at me. I blinked once and that shocked expression was gone.

"Why are you asking, Mai?" Naru asked me.

I placed my hands behind my back and looked to the ground. "Well, earlier I had a dream dealing with Mihoko…and, well, it dealt with someone she loved very deeply." My expression saddened a bit as I continued to look at the ground, kicking the dirt with my worn out shoes. "The person was killed in an accident and I think Mihoko blamed her parents for his death… For all I know he could have been murdered by them." I sighed. "But…" I paused for a moment, wondering where I was going with this. There was no possible way that Mihoko _just _killed her parents. She killed more people then that, I know it.

I looked up to Naru. "Why do you think Mihoko killed so many people? Wouldn't killing her parents suffice?"

Naru crossed his arms and looked back ahead of us. "That's certainly a reasonable idea to get. It's hard telling what drove Mihoko to kill." Naru uncrossed his arms and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "But to the answer to your earlier question: Yes, I do believe that such an emotion can make people do crazy things."

I looked at Naru, shocked to hear him say he agrees with something so…well, his words will be 'pointless'.

"But," Naru continued, "it's a good theory to assume that Mihoko's killing streak started with her family. After that, it's hard telling what happened."

I looked to the ground once again, remembering that crazed look on Mihoko's face from one of my dreams. "Made she just went mad and began killing others because she thought it was fun… And now those spirits are looking for revenge…" I knew I had said something that wasn't normal, but I had a feeling that that's what happened to her. I couldn't imagine how she felt after loosing Yosai, and having to live up to her families expectations.

"Mai has a point."

Naru and I froze, knowing that voice didn't come from either of us but from a familiar voice. We both turned around, finding the familiar face of…

"MONK!" I cheered, running up to him and hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Wow, Mai, a little tight on the grip," Monk laughed, patting my head.

"Oh, sorry," I said, releasing my killer hold of Monk.

"Glad you could make it," Naru said, walking up to Monk and I. "But how did you get down here?"

Monk point over his shoulder, giving his usual playful smirk. "John, Ayako, and I found a secret entrance in one of the rooms. I decided to investigate a bit down here and I ended up seeing you two pass by." Monk frowned, looking my up and down. "But, uh, what exactly happened to get you two down here? Did you ever find that creepy door from your dream, Mai?"

"Yeah," I answered. "It lead to a cellar and a hidden room. After our talk with some unfriendly ghosts, the floor gave in dropping us down here."

"Wait," Monk said, looking at Naru, "those creepy ghosts came back?!"

Naru nodded. "They will continue coming back until we find a solution."

The three of us continued to head towards that secret door Monk and the others found, me skipping along ahead as Monk and Naru were wrapped up in their own conversations. They had been doing that a lot lately, and I figured it was quite odd. I figured that I shouldn't think much off it, so I shrugged it off.

* * *

"MAI!" Ayako shouted as we came to find ourselves in a bedroom. Ayako hugged me tightly, forgetting about Monk and Naru. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

I chuckled. "I'm fine, Ayako."

"We're glad you're safe, Mai," John said smiling. He soon turned to Monk and Naru, asking the same thing Monk had asked earlier.

Naru explained what had happened to us and how the floor collapsed on us, getting us to those old tunnels underground. The others freaked, just like Monk had. Naru had reassured everyone that I would be fine as long as someone was with me at all times.

Ayako had cut in before anyone could go over a game plan, saying we should all rest for the time being and get our strength back up. Ayako had offered to take care of me, saying as she was the only female in the group as of right now. Naru thought that would be best and thus we were dismissed to our rooms.

* * *

"Hey, Mai," Ayako said, smiling to me.

I looked over my shoulder, feeling a bit drowsy and it probably read all over my face. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you take a shower first, huh?" Ayako said, winking and holding out a towel. "You look like ya need it."

I smiled to Ayako, taking the towel. "Thanks, Ayako. I'll only be a minute."

Ayako waved her hand. "Oh, don't be silly, take as long as you need."

I gave Ayako one last smile before entering the bathroom. Truthfully, I've hated this bathroom ever since that incident with the sink. I've been scared ever since that it could happen again at any given time. Actually, I feel that way anywhere I go. I try putting up a good front towards everyone, but I can't keep it up for much longer. I'm terrified of what's going to happen.

I turned on the water and stepped in, taking the shower. It felt nice, having all the dirt go down the drain.

But the warm water couldn't turn my mind from Yosai and Mihoko. I felt so bad for them. They loved each other, but they couldn't be together because of the different statuses. It must have been hard for them. And right when things couldn't get any worse, Yosai was killed in an accident, driving Mihoko off the edge. She killed the family she blamed, even her baby sister who didn't have anything to do with any of it.

I couldn't believe what I had been seeing, I just felt so sorry for Mihoko. But her actions after I just couldn't take. She killed innocent people for no reason. Why? Because she found it amusing? Or was she trying to get her revenge on man kind?

I suddenly realized how long I had been standing under the water, and decided that it was long enough. I shut the faucet off and stepped out with a towel around me. After drying, I changed into some PJ's that I had with me. Then I made my way to that cursed sink, one touch just sent shivers down my spine.

I brushed my teeth and when I was finished, I just stood there, looking down into the sink. I continued asking myself questions: How many people died in this house? Why were they killed? _How _were they killed? What's keeping them here? Revenge against Mihoko? Or was it another reason?

I just couldn't stop the questions continuing to fill my mind. That was until I heard a voice in my head.

"_Are you having fun, Mihoko?"_

I looked up and into the mirror, jumping back when I saw a face looking back at me. A woman with long, wet black hair and a white nightgown was looking at me with cold eyes. She looked familiar, like I had seen her face before, but I couldn't know where.

"_I do hope you're enjoying yourself," _the woman said. I continued to back up until I hit the wall. _"What game should we play next?"_

"U-Uh…" I stuttered, reaching towards the door handle. "I don't want to play anymore games, I'm sorry."

"_NO!" _the woman shouted, slamming her hands against the mirror. The glass cracked with the hard slam, leaving behind a bloody hand print to show where her hands slammed. _"You're not aloud to leave!" _The woman slammed her hands against the glass again, making it crack even more. _"You will die here just like I did!"_

I jumped when I heard another slam, but not from the mirror. It was coming from the window. I looked up and to the window, seeing hand prints on it. I looked back to the mirror, seeing the woman continuing to slam her hands against it, screaming.

I tried the door handle, but it wouldn't budge. I pounded against the door, screaming for anyone to help me.

The woman screamed louder then me, continuing to shout, _"I'll kill you for what you did to me!" _And soon the mirror shattered. I ducked into a ball against the wall, but that didn't keep from the glass cutting me. I continued hearing the slamming of hands on the window and walls around me. I was too terrified to move. I was useless.

* * *

*Third Person P.O.V.*

Naru continued looking through the files on his computer, looking for anything that could help them figure out who was haunting the place they resided in. But no matter how much searching he did, nothing came up. It was like the house was wiped from existence, but that couldn't be possible.

"Hey, Naru," Monk said, walking in. "You sure one of us shouldn't sit in with Ayako and Mai?"

Naru continued to type at the computer, but he answered Monk's question. "I figured they would want their privacy. But you're welcome to go in there is you wish."

"Just don't blame us if you Ayako slaps you," John said, giving a slight laugh.

Monk scratched the back of his head and laughed. "I guess you're right. They are girls after all." Monk turned serious. "Anyway, have we figured any more out?"

"We've gotten a few more leads, but I don't know if they will be much help to us," Naru said. "Mai told me something about how Mihoko had a secret lover and that one day he got into an accident after they had gotten found out by Mihoko's father. After that, Mihoko couldn't take the grief and anger she felt towards her family, and she killed them."

"In other words," Monk said, "that 'accident' wasn't an accident."

"It's safe to assume that's the case," Lin said, turning around in his chair. "Or, Mihoko jumped to the conclusion that her lover was murdered by her family when it actually was an accident."

"We just don't have that much information about it," Naru said.

"I spoke to Yasu earlier," John said. "He said he found a few journals hidden under the desk in the library. He's looking through them as we speak."

"Those should helps us," Monk said, smiling. "But we need to finish up this case quickly." Monk looked towards the monitors. "I don't know how much more Mai can take of getting attacked."

"I'm surprised she hasn't broke yet…" John said, giving a sad expression. "I'm truly feel sorry for her, I can't imagine how hard this must be on her."

"I agree," Naru said, shutting his computer with a sigh. "Mai is a strong girl, but it is hard telling when she'll break from all this."

Monk looked to Naru, smirking. "Is that a bit of sentiment I hear?"

Before Naru was able to answer, Mai's scream rang out. The four men were up and out of the room, quickly running into the bedroom next door.

"What's going on?" Monk shouted.

"I don't know," Ayako said, trying to pry the door open. "She suddenly started screaming! But I can't get the door open no matter how hard I try."

Monk took Ayako's spot, trying to force the door open, but it seems that wasn't necessary. Because right when everything went quiet, the door opened easily.

Lin and Naru were silent like usual, but truly surprised by what they saw.

"What the-?!" Monk began, but he couldn't finish.

"Oh dear," John said.

"Oh my-" Ayako covered her mouth, not finding words to fit the sight.

The sight before everyone was truly terrifying and creepy to say the least. Everywhere they looked there were written words on the walls. All repeating the same phrase or word. _"You will pay for your actions" _or _"DIE"._

When the others stopped looking around the room, they saw that Mai was huddled into a corner. She was shaking and it was obvious. Her head was buried in her knees and her arms wrapped around herself.

"Mai!" Ayako and Monk shouted, running over. They crouched next to her, but she didn't look up.

"Please make them stop," she muttered, crying.

"Mai," Ayako said, putting a hand on Mai's shoulder, "they're gone. There's no need to be scared anymore. We're all here." Mai still didn't look up and continued to rock back and forth in the corner. Mai continued to mutter the same sentence over again. Did she finally break?

"Mai," Monk said, patting her head, "hey, look up, Mai." Mai didn't oblige to Monk's words.

"Whatever happened in here must have really scared her," John said.

Monk stood to his feet, looking at the writing on the wall, just as Naru and Lin were doing. He reached out a hand, running it over the words. "It's blood… All these words are written in blood. I wouldn't blame Mai for being so scared."

"But this is different," Naru said, looking to the place where the mirror used to be. The only thing that was notably different was the words were different. _"You will continue to pay until we're satisfied."_

"What do you think that's supposed to mean?" Ayako asked, looking up from comforting Mai. "They won't stop until she's senile?!"

"They'll continue torturing her until they believe she feels the same pain and fear they had," John answered. "This is only the beginning of what's to come."

"I agree with John," Naru said. "They won't stop until they're satisfied, which means that is these attacks continue-"

"She'll lose her life…" Monk finished. Naru nodded.

Naru walked past Monk and over to Mai, squatting to the ground next to her.

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V.*

I had finally snapped, I couldn't take it anymore. I knew they were never going to stop until they were fully satisfied, and I knew the satisfaction would only happen when I was dead.

I knew my friends were in the room, but I was afraid to look up. I didn't want to see that woman's face anymore, or those hands on the window, or the words written in blood on the wall.

"Mai."

I froze at the calm voice I heard. I looked up to see the person I thought it was, Naru. He was looking at me, calmly like always, but his eyes shined with a different light then they did awhile ago. He seemed worried when I looked into those blue orbs. But I figured it was just my imagination, or maybe he was actually concerned.

"Mai, listen to me very carefully," Naru said. "You are not to step into this room _ever _again, do you understand?" I continued to stare, but a gave him a small nod, which made the others smile. Naru continued talking, but not to me. Instead he was talking to John and Monk. I didn't hear what he said to them, but they soon ran out the room. Naru soon turned to Ayako and asked her something, which I also didn't hear. But she soon got up, giving me one last look before leaving the room too.

Lin soon began talking to Naru, until Naru said something which made Lin leave too. I didn't understand what was going on, but I didn't really care.

"Mai," Naru said, looking back at me, "can you stand?"

I couldn't get up. I was afraid to stand, scared something like before would happen. So, I shook my head slowly, tears beginning to fall from my eyes. Naru didn't seem to mind me crying, nor did he do anything to stop it. He simply picked me up and began carrying me out. I was being a burden to everyone, and I didn't want to be. But was there really anything I could do?

I soon found myself getting carried into the room where we had all set up base, where Naru proceeded to set me on the crouch. My head hit a soft pillow, which I found a bit more comforting and it was helping settle down.

Lin tapped Naru on the shoulder, telling him something. Naru nodded and soon Lin left once again. Ayako then walked in, resting one of my bags next to the table. She placed her hands on her hips, saying something to Naru. Again, I couldn't hear anything, it was like my ears were filled with water. Naru scoffed and answered Ayako calmingly. Ayako soon rolled her eyes and left, saying something else before leaving. Naru didn't turn back to look at me, but instead grabbed a chair and sat down, near the arm of the chair and my head.

I opened my mouth, trying to find my voice. After a moment, I had found it, but it was very quite.

"Naru?" I said. I heard a small grunt telling me he was listening. I smiled a bit, finding a small laugh escaping. "Thank you." Tears began falling from my eyes and I couldn't stop them, and I found myself rambling even more. "I was so scared. They continued banging on the walls, and then the glass shattered…" I buried my head in the pillow, but that didn't hide my crying.

A hand rested onto of my head, scuffling my hair like I was a child.

"Just shut up, Mai," Naru said, "get some sleep and stop crying."

Even if the words sounded harsh, they really brightened my spirit and I found myself smiling. I whispered one last "thank you" to Naru before sleep had taken over.

* * *

**I do admit I was a bit lazy at the beginning of this chapter. But I do hope in anyway it was a good read.**

**Thank you for reading. And I hope I can write the next chapter quickly for all of you. Thank you for the reviews, alerts, and favorites. They overjoy me.**

**Please comment! They also make me smile. ;D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, again, sorry for late update. It takes awhile to get these ideas. Anyway, I want to warn you: IF YOU ARE SQUIRMISH, OR THINK YOU MIGHT BE SQUIRMISH, I SUGGEST SKIPPING PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER. THERE ARE GRUESOME, VERY GRUESOME, PARTS IN THIS CHAPTER.**

**Anyway, I do hope you enjoy. ^_^ And if you get scared, just know I was scared when writing this… O_O I'll never look at this object the same way…**

* * *

"_Maybe we should give her a present?"_

"_Oh, a present sounds good… What kind of present?"_

"_How about that shiny thing over there?"_

"_That would be perfect."_

* * *

Me, Yasu, and Naru, were currently in the library, looking over the multiple journals Yasu had found. Along with multiple files and books that he had found on the previous owners of the house.

It seemed that after Mihoko's supposed "assassination of her family", so I liked to call it, she allowed people to rent the rooms in her home. Multiple families rented the rooms of the house, and continued to do so until ten years ago, when the Saromi family lived here. All the families had mysteriously disappeared. Mihoko soon did as well, after the Saromi family had disappeared.

Later the police investigated the mysterious disappearance of the families, ten in total, and that's when they had found Mihoko's body. She had jumped off the balcony in her room and died when she hit the ground. Ever since then, the house hadn't been occupied.

"From what I got from the journals," Yasu said, handing a book to Naru, "Mihoko had some mental and physical health issues after the death of Yosai. The family hired a butler to keep watch over her. Then the family was killed and the beginning of the other families disappearances started."

"Wait!" I said, jumping to my feet. "You're saying that Mihoko had an accomplice when she killed all those people?!"

"Of course," Naru said, looking through the book in his hands, "she couldn't have done all those murders by herself… She must have had some help, and now we know from who." Naru looked up and at me. "Think about it, Mai, multiple bodies were the result of all this. Mihoko, being weak as she was, must have had someone dispose of the bodies and clean up the messes she made."

"You make her sound like a child who had trouble with paint," I said. Naru didn't say anything back. I knew he was right, that was the only explanation. _So the butler was in on the murders… _I thought.

I turned my back to Naru and Yasu, walking over to the desk. I couldn't take much more of this. There was so much information that needed to be processed and reasonably thought through, it was just so much for me to handle. On top of that, the ghosts keep trying to kill me and weren't going to stop until I was dead!

I hadn't even noticed that I was looking through the desk drawers until I noticed a pare of scissors in the top drawer. They were the only things in there; no paper, no pens, just the scissors.

"That's odd…" I muttered.

"What is, Mai?" Yasu asked.

"These scissors…" I reached forward, grabbing the pair of rusted scissors and looked the over. That's when the voices rang in my head.

"_Oh…it seems you found your present already…"_

I looked up to see Mihoko standing in front of me.

"_Present?" _my voice said. It wasn't my voice. I could tell it was a woman's voice, but it wasn't mine. I was seeing the past of a ghost that was haunting this manor, just like all the other times I touched something. Maybe I should just keep my hands to myself…

"_Yes, your present," _Mihoko said, smiling as she walked closer to me. _"I was waiting until later this evening, but it seems there's no need to now." _Mihoko took the scissors in her hands, looking them over.

"_A pair of scissors is my present?"_

"_Not at all." _Mihoko's smile went twisted as she looked the scissors over. _"It's what I'm going to do with the scissors." _Mihoko looked back at me, her eyes were hollow, but her smile was caring. My body began shaking in terror. _"I'm going to make you so pretty."_

_Don't do it! _I screamed in my head as Mihoko walked towards me. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, screaming and struggling to be released, but Mihoko was sitting on me and my hands were bound above my head. She was smiling as she grasped the scissors in her hand.

"_What should we do first?" _Mihoko chimed. _"Oh, I know. How about those lovely green eyes?" _

I screamed as Mihoko brought down the scissors and stabbed my left eye, turning the edges and then pulling them out. She then repeated it once again and I screamed again. Tears ran down my face along with the blood coming from my torn eye.

"_Pretty, pretty, pretty," _Mihoko said as she continued with the same motion. My eye was turning to soup now, and I just wouldn't die. It was painful.

The motion stopped and I saw Mihoko smile once again, tilting her head. _"Now, how about the other one?" _Mihoko then brought down the scissors to my other eye, doing the same thing. I continued to scream for help or to be released, but she just continued making soup in my eye socket. This was the most horrifying experience yet, and it continued to get worse.

_Why won't I die?! _I screamed in my head. But that wasn't my thought, it was the woman's who was getting stabbed.

The stabbing motion continued and I could feel the warm blood run down my face. The motion stopped, and Mihoko spoke once again. _"Aw, you look so pretty now. What should we do next?" _Even if I couldn't see anything, I could hear the smile in her voice. She was happy about this.

"_P-P-Please…stop…." _my voice cried.

"_Oh! I know!" _I felt a breeze on my stomach and chest, as if my clothes were ripped away. _"Why don't we get rid of this skin, huh? It's not much use anyway."_

My screams continued to grow louder and louder as the scissors tore at my flesh, along with Mihoko's finger nails. This feeling was dreadful. How could someone still be alive after this experience?

"_Please stop!"_

"_Aw," _Mihoko said, _"why would I stop? You want to become beautiful, right? Every girl wants to become beautiful." _Mihoko's scrapping motions at my stomach stopped, leaving the trickling of blood run down the skin that was left.

"_I'm getting annoyed with all your crying!" _Mihoko screamed, sounding angry. _"So, I'm going to get rid of that pesky tongue on yours. Does that sound nice?"_

I continued to scream and cry as Mihoko's hand reached into my mouth and pulled out my tongue. I felt the cold scissors against it and then…

_Snip._

* * *

"Mai."

I looked up to see Yasu standing in front of me and Naru sitting on the same velvet couch he had minutes ago.

"Something wrong, Mai?" Yasu asked.

My hands were shaking and they dropped the scissors back into the desk. I couldn't believe I had just seen that. It was horrible, terrifying, and it left me speechless.

"M-M-M-Mih-h-hoko…s-s-she…" I couldn't finished my sentence.

"What happened, Mai?" Naru said, standing to his feet and walking over.

I didn't finish my sentence, because something else occupied my mind. Another vision. It was of a butler walking over to the shelf and putting a book away. Something told me that the book was important, and it might be able to help us on this case. So, I walked over to the shelf and fetched the book.

"Mai, what are you-"

Before Yasu could finish, I slammed the album onto the table and looked at them. They both looked down to the album and were surprised, as was I.

What I had placed on the table wasn't really an album, but a notebook keeping the records of ever person who had died here.

"The butler kept a record of everyone who was killed by Mihoko," I said. My hands had stopped trembling. But I didn't know why I was so calm now, I had just seen a horrifying picture, along with having it happen to myself. But now I was calm and composed. "The butler kept it as ordered by Mihoko. She collected souvenirs from all her victims and hid them throughout the mansion."

"Mai," Naru said, looking at me calmly like usual, "how do you know this?"

I looked down to the album. Where did I know this from? I hadn't had any vision giving me these answers. It was like someone was whispering them in my ear.

"I…I don't know," I answered, shrugging. I placed a hand on the book and opened it. The first picture I saw I recognized. It was the woman I had seen in the bathroom. "She"-I pointed to the picture-"was drowned in the sink." I turned the page, the next was a man from the same family. "He was poisoned." I turned the page again, wondering how I knew these things without reading the summary given. "This woman had her throat cut. Her child was burned in the fireplace upstairs. Her husband was tortured in the downstairs room."

"That's…" Yasu began, but he couldn't continue. He was thinking the same thing I was, 'this is horrible'.

I shut the book, not taking much more of looking at it. Naru picked up the book and handed it to Yasu.

"Yasu, I want you to go back to base and give this to Lin," he ordered. Yasu nodded and ran off. Naru then looked back at me, giving me one of his 'I know you're hiding something' looks.

I looked to ground, not knowing what exactly I should say.

"What happened, Mai?" Naru said. His voice didn't have the usual monotone manner, or the calm interior. He was gently asking me what happened.

"I…" I roamed off for a moment, but soon closed my eyes and explained everything to Naru. I explained how I saw Mihoko kill a woman brutally, how I had felt everything, and how I knew it ended. When I was finished, I looked up and to Naru, seeing his arms crossed and his eyes narrowly looking at me.

"Why didn't you say this before?" he said.

I shrugged and looked back to the ground. I heard Naru give a displeasing sigh, but then, I felt his hand rest gently on top of my head. My face had flushed and I could bare to look up.

"Don't think to much about it, alright?" Naru said.

I slowly nodded. His hand soon left my head and I looked up to see him smirking at me, that narcissistic smirk too! But before I could yell at him to wipe the smirk off his face, he had grabbed my wrist and began pulling me along with him.

"Come on," Naru said. "We need to get back to base and explain something to the others."

I nodded and followed, really hoping Naru hadn't noticed how red my face had gotten.

* * *

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry if it was confusing. I got lazy after the scissors…. -_- I do apologize though. I hope the next chapter is better though. Anyway, thanks for reading. Leave a comment if you like.**


	12. Chapter 12

"She kept souvenirs of all her victims?!" Ayako shouted, covering her mouth. I noticed that her face had turned green, which I didn't blame her. It was quite gross if you asked me.

"That's just sick," Monk said, looking just as green as Ayako.

"It is gross," I said, "and twisted."

"Very twisted," Naru agreed. He flipped a page in 'Death Diary'-what we decided to call it-and continued reading down the page.

"Strange thing is," I said, putting a hand to my chin. "There were men and children in the book… But I've only seen ghosts of women."

"Well," John said, putting a hand to his chin, "women do tend to hold grudges more often then men or children."

Ayako and I glared at John. He smiled sheepishly and waved his hands. "Oh, I didn't mean that disrespectfully!"

"In other words," Naru said, leaning back in his chair, "the men and children have already past on, leaving the women wanting revenge." Naru looked back down to the book. "Although, I'm beginning to wonder if revenge is the only reason they're after Mai."

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's obvious they want revenge on Mihoko because she brutally killed them!"

"Wait a minute," Monk stepped in before I could shout anymore. "Are you saying they want those…" Monk gulped. "…souvenirs…back?"

"Exactly," Naru answered, a small smirk playing across his lips.

I crossed my arms and begun to think this over. Wasn't that too easy? I had a feeling like something was going to go wrong is we started doing this. But, it was better then continuing to live in hell like I have for the past few days.

"Mai?"

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Ayako and everyone looking at me.

"What's your idea on this?" Ayako asked calmly.

"Do we even need to ask?" Monk said, putting his hands behind his head.

I laughed a bit, thinking the same thing.

"The answer goes without saying," Naru said, standing to his feet. "We should begin looking for the first item."

"I agree," John said, smiling, but that smile soon faded. I didn't know what John wanted to say next, because the conversations around me were interrupted by laughing echoing through the room and the lights shutting off.

"_How about we play a game, Mihoko?" _the bitter voice asked. _"If you can find all the pretty items stolen from us before we can kill you, we'll let you and your friends go." _The voice giggled. "_Unless you're too scared to put your precious life on the line."_

I looked to Naru, knowing him and everyone else was hearing the same thing. I didn't know what to do and I was hoping he could give me the answer. His eyes were cold, but they gave me the answer I was looking for. I knew what he would do in this situation, and it was best that I made that same decision.

Before I knew it, I had said my answer. "Alright."

"_Wonderful." _The voice began giving an evil laughter, but it soon calmed. I felt a hand on my shoulder and a cold, chilling, voice whisper in my right ear. _"Let the game begin." _

I soon felt something cold wrap around my neck, like a hand. I got slammed against the wall as the annoying laughter continued, more laughter joining in with it. I tried clawing away the hand at my throat, but I only touched my own skin and clawed away at that.

The laughing was beginning to fade as I was beginning to fall unconscious. My hands dropped to my side and the grip got tighter. I blinked and that when I heard words sounding like Monk's incantations echo through. The voices screamed and I dropped the ground, gasping for breath. It was now silent.

The lights flickered back on.

"Mai!" Ayako said, helping me to my feet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said, smiling and laughing. I turned to Naru to see him looking at the closed door. I followed his gaze to find one, blood covered, words inscribed on the door.

"Death," I read.

"We should get looking right away," Naru said, picking up the 'Death Diary' again. "Lin"-Naru looked at Lin-"you should come with us, there's no point in staying here any longer." Lin nodded and we all left together, leaving all our equipment behind to go looking for the first item listed in the book: A Finger belonging to Ayuzaki Kimiho.

* * *

**I might just add, I got lazy on this chapter. I do hope I don't get lazy on the next one. But it will be up soon. I do hope you enjoyed and I thank you for reading. I also want to thank everyone for the comments, favorites, alerts, and everything else. =) I do hope I can continue to please. And if you have anything you wish to happen (like a Mai and Naru scene, or a scary scene, or something of another) just let me know and I'll see if I can fit it into a chapter. =D**


	13. Chapter 13

We had been walking around the mansion for about five hours now, and we still hadn't found the place where Ayuzaki Kimiho's finger was suppose to be, let alone where she died.

Right about now I was getting tired, and, might I add, hungry. Just to show how my tummy felt from not eating the past few days, it growled-loudly.

Everyone stopped and looked at me, Monk and Yasu having an amused look while John and Ayako were puzzled. Naru and Lin on the other hand were serious and their looks as cold as usual.

"Was that you stomach, Mai?" Monk asked, smirking.

I gave a nervous smile and shook my head, waving my hands too. "What? No, no, that wasn't me!" Then my stomach decided to embarrass me further with another noise.

"Maybe we should go to the kitchen and look for something to eat," John suggested.

"John's right," Ayako said, looking to Naru, "we're all hungry! We should find something before we collapse of starvation!"

"You've only gone 24 hours without eating," Naru said, crossing his arms, "so that's not possible."

I began pouting, knowing Naru would say we need to find that finger. Soon, my eyes met his, but he didn't say that. Instead, he said, "Fine. We'll go to the kitchen and see what we can find." Naru then turned around, back towards us once again. "But only 15 minutes."

"Yes!" I cheered, running to Naru and hugging him from behind. "Thanks, Naru!" I then ran down the hall to the kitchen, not listening to Ayako shouting at me.

* * *

Luckily, the kitchen had been fully stocked upon our arrival, meaning we had food for a few weeks if necessary.

"So," I chimed as John continued to cook, he was most likely the best cook among out group, "what are you making, John?"

John gently laughed and turned me around gently, pushing me out of the kitchen.

"No peeking, Mai," John said, smiling. "Go back into the dinning room, you need your rest more then the rest of us."

I sighed. "Fine…" I then listened and walked back into the dinning room where everyone was sitting at the dinning table, except Ayako and Monk who were helping John in the kitchen.

Naru sat silently at the end of the table, his legs crossed and the Death Journal in his hands; Lin was on his laptop, checking the data from the rooms we were just in a few minutes ago; and Yasu, was just twiddling his thumbs. So, I thought it might be a good idea to talk with him.

Before I could even get anything out of my mouth, I saw something in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to the dinning room door, just in time to see a white light flowing into the hall. My spine tingled at the sight, but I felt like I needed to go after it. I had a feeling it wasn't going to hurt me.

"Mai?" Yasu questioned, noticing me walking out into the hall.

"Where is she going?" I heard Naru ask angrily from inside the dinning room.

"I have no clue!" Yasu said.

I didn't stop walking, I just continued to follow that white light down the hall and up the stairs.

"MAI!" Yasu shouted, but I still didn't stop.

After Yasu's shout, the light began to pick up speed and began rushing down the hall. So, I ran after it, trying to catch up.

"Mai, stop!"

I still continued to run forward. I turned corners, I opened doors, but it just felt like I was going in circles. Until the light suddenly stopped and floated down into the floor of the green carpet of the study.

I looked down and saw the glowing light in the floor. I went to my knees, noticing that the piece of carpet was a bit different from the other pieces. It looked like it had been cut and pried open, so, I did what my mind told me to do: I opened it. I pulled the loose floorboard out and I was shocked by my sight, but also happy, sort of.

In a small, blue, blood soaked, pouch, was the thing we had been looking for: Ayuzaki Kimiho's finger.

I picked up the pouch by the strings and smiled.

"We found it," I muttered.

"_That doesn't mean anything…"_

I dropped the pouch and quickly turned around to see the ghost that had spoken, having a grin on her beautiful face.

"_I hope you don't mind," _the woman said, tilting her head and giving the most carnivorous smile I've ever seen, _"but I'm going to borrow you for a moment."_

After that, I only saw black.

* * *

**Sorry guys for the late update, do hope you enjoyed. I'm writing the next one…now! XD Promise. Should be up by the weekend, but with school and everything, that plan might get changed. BTW, I didn't really read over this, I was sort of in a rush to get it up. So, sorry for errors.**

**Thanks for all the support and ideas! =)**

**Please, continue to support this fanfic and PLEASE COMMENT. I luv 'em. ^_^**


	14. Chapter 14

**Well my dear reader. Turns out I hurt my leg and wasn't really able to walk around all that much, so, I got to stay home from school today. You know what that means? It means two things: My grades are screwed and that I was able to finish this chapter for all of your enjoyment. I do hope you enjoy and I want to thank **_**red queen 831 **_**for giving the idea for this chapter, although I was thinking along the same thing and I found it quite funny how someone knew what my ideas were. XD But anyway, thanks again.**

**Also, for the others that have given ideas, don't worry, they will be in the next few chapters. And there will be a very special MaixNaru scene soon, when I get there.**

**Anyway, enjoy reading!**

* * *

*Narrator P.O.V*

Naru, Yasu, and Lin had continued to search the halls, but still hadn't found Mai yet. Once she started running, it was like she disappeared. Who knew she was so fast?

"Mai!" Yasu shouted again. "Where are you?!"

"Will you quiet down?" Naru growled, glaring at Yasu. "Shouting won't help us find her."

Yasu simply took a glance at Naru, knowing he was fully right, but did he have to say it in that way? Everyone in the group knew he cared for Mai, even if he was a heartless jerk at some points.

The three continued to walk down the halls, until they came to the open study door.

"Did we leave that door open?" Yasu questioned.

"No," Lin answered. "We shut it after looking the place over."

The three were cautious when approaching the door, but when they peeked in and saw Mai just sitting there on the floor, their caution faded and turned into relief.

"Mai?" Yasu said.

Mai looked up from the ground and looked over her shoulder, smiling. "Oh, hey guys!" Mai quickly stood to her feet, holding up the small pouch that she had found by the string. "Look what I found!"

Lin took the bag and looked it over, seeing a name written in black marker on it. "It's Ayuzaki Kimiho's finger."

"That's one off the list," Naru said, crossing his arms. He then looked to Yasu. "Yasu, go tell the others that we found Ayuzaki Kimiho's finger." Yasu nodded and soon left without asking Mai any of the questions he wanted to.

Mai tilted her head and placed a hand to her lips, pondering. Soon, a small hidden smirk crossed her lips.

"The next thing on the list is an ear belonging to Ichiro Tokiya," Naru said.

"How do you know that?" Mai questioned, the same childish smile on her face from when they first walked in. The smile was unfaltering, and it disturbed Naru and Lin. Maybe Mai was just trying to be cheerful in their situation, show she wasn't losing it.

"I looked over the book many times and made a list of all the women in the book," Naru said. "I'm simply going in order from that."

Mai's smile got super cheerful. "Wow, that's a good idea, Naru!"

Lin narrowed his eyes at Mai, knowing she wasn't fully acting like herself. Even Naru had noticed the strange behavior, but simply brushed it off as her trying to be her usual self.

Naru looked away and to Lin. "We shouldn't stay in here long. Let's get back to the others and explain our next course of action." Lin nodded and soon left with Naru following behind, that was until…

"Naru?" Mai asked, placing her hands behind her back and tilting her head.

Naru turned around and looked at Mai, still as stoic as he usually is. "What is it, Mai?"

Mai's smile turned into a semi-flirting smile as she said, "Mind if I talk to you for a moment?" Mai glanced at Lin and then back to Naru. "Alone?"

Naru looked to Lin. Lin wasn't so sure about leaving Naru alone with Mai, who was acting too strange for her own good. But when Naru gave a small nod, Lin followed what he knew Naru was trying to say, and left, shutting the door behind him.

"What is it, Mai?" Naru repeated his questioned. "If this is something-"

Mai cut Naru off. "Oh, don't worry, I won't take much of your time. I just wanted to tell you something." Mai took a few steps closer to Naru. "I've been wanting to tell you this for quite sometime."

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V*

I could see everything I was doing, or what the ghost was making my body do. I really couldn't believe what was happening. My arms had wrapped around Naru's neck and my face was inches away from his. Why wasn't he pushing me away?! He must have known it wasn't me!

"_Stop this!" _I shouted.

The ghost simply brushed off my shouting and continued to try seducing Naru. Pretty soon, I lost all words when _my _lips were a centimeter away from Naru's. But suddenly I felt relieved when Naru spoke.

"I would stop this while you can," he said. The ghost that had possessed me had backed off for the time being. My eyes met with Naru's as he looked at me with a cold glare, making my body stiff. "If you believe you can distract me by your boring act, you're wrong."

* * *

*Narrator P.O.V*

Mai uncoiled her arms from around Naru and tsked. "You people are a pain." Mai smirked, a very carnivorous and daunting smirk. Mai soon reached out her hand and clasped it around Naru's throat, pushing him against the bookshelf.

"Really," Mai said, "we were just trying to help the girl out." Mai's grip tightened around Naru's throat. "She really does like you." Mai's smirk turned into a full smile, reaching from ear to ear. "We can't help but have fun with her emotions. What's the point of killing her off so easily when we could slowly drive her insane?" Mai laughed. "It'd be lovely to see her jump off the roof and see the beautiful splattered corpse on the ground. Think about the masterpiece."

Mai continued to laugh as Naru tried getting Mai's hand off of his throat, but her strength was unbelievable.

"Just think about how torn up she'll be when she discovers she killed you with her own hands?" the ghost that had possessed Mai continued to say. "I'm sure _that_ will drive her to the edge. Then"-Mai smiled once again-"she'll just need a light push and then…_splat!" _Laughter soon echoed through the room once again.

Naru didn't know what to do, there were ways he could get himself out of this situation, but all meant hurting Mai and he didn't want to do that. As long as the ghost occupied her body, he wasn't going to use any of those tactics.

Naru was beginning to lose consciousness as Mai's hand gripped his throat even tighter then before.

"Any last words?" Mai giggled.

Naru looked over Mai's shoulder and smirked. "Just one."

Mai's smile faded, not really expecting him to say anything. She soon looked over her shoulder just in time to get knocked unconscious by Lin, who had been watching the whole time and only intervened when things got out of hand.

Naru could finally get air into his lungs, which he was very grateful for. But he still had one thing occupying his mind: Getting Mai un-possessed.

"We need to get Mai to John," Naru said, still trying to catch his breath. "He can get this ghost out of Mai." Naru then stumbled to the door, leaning against the door frame when he felt a bit light headed.

"Are you sure you should move around so much after that?" Lin asked, placing a hand on Naru's shoulder.

"I'm fine," Naru said with a small glare. "I'm more concerned about Mai right now."

Lin continued to look at Naru for a few minutes, then turned and cradled Mai. As soon as Naru had, almost, caught his breath, the two walked back to the dinning room with Mai in Lin's arms.

* * *

**Do hope that was good chapter, it took me awhile. I'm sorry it wasn't long, I don't really do long chapters. But there are those exceptions. =) Just this wasn't one of them.**

**Anyway, thanks for the support again, and leave a comment after the button! =D**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, seems I'm getting ideas so I've been writing more. There will be mistakes because my body parts just seem to WANT to get hurt; first my leg, then yesterday my fingernail broke, making me bleed! Not pretty… But I can't really use it much, and it hurts typing this. But I did my best.**

**And to HellButterflyGirl: I hadn't really thought about making a sequel or more cases. I might though, now that you brought it to my mind. XD If I finish this story without Mai and Naru hooking up, then you can take that as a, "There will be a sequel". But so far, it hasn't been planned. Also, thanks for wishing for me to get better, really nice of ya.**

**Anyway, I do hope this chapter is alright. =) Have fun.**

**BTW: Bold is the SPR team talking, Italics is the figure or ghost or something else. Normal is Mai which is kind of a no brainier.**

* * *

The only light in the blackness was from the circle I was sitting on. I didn't really understand why I was sitting on it, or why I was in the dark, but I felt strangely calm in the blackness.

"_**Mai?"**_

I opened my eyes, but saw no one in front of me. The voice came from the distance, and it sounded like John calling to me, but it was hard to tell.

"_**Come on, Mai, wake up!"**_

Now it was Monk's voice.

I looked up to the sky, or what was supposed to be the sky, but saw nothing indicating where I was. I figured I was dreaming again, but I wasn't quite sure.

"_Don't go to the fourth floor bedroom…"_

I looked around to see where that voice was coming from, or who it was. It wasn't Naru, or Lin, or anyone else. I've never heard this voice before.

"_Don't go to the fourth floor bedroom…" _

I quickly stood to my feet, turning in every direction I could. That was when I saw a distant figure, coated in light. I felt like I knew the figure, but I don't remember ever seeing him before.

The figure soon began walking away from me.

"Wait!" I shouted, reaching out a hand. The figure stopped walking and turned around. I couldn't see his face.

"_Stay away from Shinozaki Chieko…" _he said.

"Who is that?" The figure didn't answer me and simply turned his back to me again, walking away.

"_**Shouldn't she have woken up by now?"**_

"_**How hard did you hit her, Lin?"**_

"_**Not that hard…"**_

"_Make sure you to stay away from the fourth floor bedroom, Mai…"_

I was going to shout for the figure to return and give me answers, but before I could a light flashed before my eyes and I was in a place filled with pure white.

I turned around and saw a man from earlier standing in front of me. His hands were neatly behind his back and he stood very proper, as if he worked for a high class home. His clothes also fit that of someone who was a servant for a household, like a butler.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"_Someone who should have made things right a long time ago…" _he replied. He then turned his back to me again, giving me no other words but, _"Remember to stay away from the fourth floor bedroom at all costs."_

I was going to try and stop the man from leaving, but someone had place a hand on my shoulder making me stop. I looked over and saw Naru looking at me, smiling.

"What's going on, Naru?" I asked. "You haven't given me any answers to the questions I've been asking!"

"_I know," _he replied. _"You'll find the answers to your questions in due time…" _He pulled me forward and gently kissed my forehead. _"Just know to follow your heart and you'll find them."_

I closed my eyes as he gently whispered to me. _"It's time to go back, Mai. Just remember our words, and everything will be just fine."_

* * *

**That's all I got... -_- Sorry...but that's all that could come to me, sadly... Do hope it was alright. =) Maybe more next time, right?**


	16. Chapter 16

"What is with all the locked doors in this place?" Ayako mumbled after trying another door knob. It was locked like al the others we had come to.

"And the owner didn't leave any keys either…" Monk mumbled, just as dejected as Ayako.

Even I had to admit, seeing all the locked doors, I was dejected by it all.

"The Real-estate woman ensured that all the doors were unlocked for our privilege," Yasu said. "I don't understand why they're all locked now…"

"If they're locked then that means we aren't meant to go in," I said, continuing to walk down the hallway. I suddenly stopped when we came to a fork in the road. "Now which way, Naru?" I turned around to see him staring at me.

"You tell me," Naru said, crossing his arms. "You have more knowledge of this place then any of us right now, Mai. Your decision is our best bet."

I bit my lip and looked both ways. Which way? I really had no clue.

"_**Go to the attic…"**_

_Attic? _I thought. _Why do we need to go there?_

"_**You'll find what you're searching for in the attic…"**_

So, go to a creepy place that is covered in spider webs and is a VERY likely place where I can get killed. Sure, hell, why not?

"What about the attic, Mai?" John asked, tilting his head to the side a bit.

I looked at everyone, surprised. "W-What?" Can they read minds now?!

"You said something about the attic," Ayako said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Did I?" I said, looking a bit frightened. "When did I say something about the attic? I don't remember saying anything about the attic."

"We all heard you, Mai," Monk said, grinning. "You said we should go to the attic."

"If you want my suggestion," Ayako said, crossing her arms, "I'd stay far away from the attic."

"Why?" Monk said, smirking. "Scared?"

"The attic might be our best bet," Naru said, interrupting Ayako's shouting to Monk.

"Why do you say that?" everyone asked.

"Because that's where Ichiro Tokiya was killed."

"Why didn't you mention that earlier?!" Ayako and I shouted.

Naru sighed and walked past us. "I figured you would have learned that by now."

I frowned. _Maybe I should have read over that diary… _I thought. I then shook my head. _No…I'm not reading that thing! It's…it's…_

"Mai?"

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I quickly turned around to see Ayako looking at me puzzled.

"Everything alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I smiled. "Y-Yeah, perfectly fine." I then walked away from Ayako, beginning to follow Naru and the others down the hall.

We were now on the fourth floor, making our way to the ladder that would lead us to the attic. Truthfully, ever since my dream, I hadn't want to go to the fourth floor.

My feet were beginning to drag on the ground as I walked. I didn't know how much walking I could take. I was beginning to get tired, even if I had rested minutes ago.

I stopped walking for a moment, taking a break as everyone else continued to walk without knowing I stopped. I took a few breaths and looked around to see where I was, when I noticed a strange door in front of me.

"_**Beware of the fourth floor bedroom…"**_

Was this that room? I don't know, but I felt myself getting drawn to it. My hand was about to touch the doorknob when I was suddenly pulled back by a shout.

"Mai!"

I pulled my hand away and looked up to see Naru and everyone looking at me.

"Quit lagging behind," Naru said, crossing his arms and walking away again.

"R-Right…" I mumbled. I looked back to the door and then followed my friends. For some reason I felt like I needed to go through that door.

* * *

"This it?" Monk asked, putting his hands on his hips and looking up to the hatch we're all looking at.

"Should be…" John said. "It's the only thing leading to the floor above us."

"Well, boys," Ayako said, smiling, "have fun."

Monk looked at Ayako, raising an eyebrow, but it seems he knew what she was saying. He reached up and tried getting the latch open.

"It's locked!" Monk said. Monk looked at the latch to see a pass code lock on it. "Anybody by chance have the code?"

"Well…" Ayako sighed. "What is the plan now, hotshot?" Ayako crossed her arms and looked at Naru.

I continued to look at the lock on the latch, wondering what exactly our plan was from here.

"_**8...2...4...6..."**_

I titled my head to the side.

"8246..." I muttered. Everyone looked to me. "The code is 8246..."

Naru continued to look at me. After a minute or so he looked to Monk and told him to try it on the lock.

"It worked…" Monk said, throwing the lock to the ground and opening the hatch. Soon we were all startled, Monk falling to the floor, by the ladder coming down suddenly from the hole.

"Guess…we go up?" I questioned.

"First…" Ayako said, crossing her arms and looking at me. "How did you know the code, Mai?"

I smiled at her. "I don't know."

"You're lying, Mai," Monk said, getting off the ground.

"I get the dream thing," Yasu said, "but knowing information like this…that's new."

I looked to my hands and twiddled my thumbs for a minute. I then looked up to see everyone staring at me intently.

"Well…" I began. I sighed and closed my eyes. "This…voice has been telling me where to go…"

"A voice?" everyone, except Naru and Lin, said in unison.

"Y-Yeah…" I muttered. "It's been telling me everything I've known so far…"

"Has it said anything else?" Naru asked, completely serious in the question as normal.

"Wait!" Ayako shouted. Naru looked at Ayako. "What if it's been leading us in the wrong direction all this time?!"

"Ayako."

Ayako looked up and to Monk to see him giving her a stern look. She then glanced at me and she was silent.

"She has a point," John said. "It's hard saying if we can trust it…"

"But I don't think it's trying to deceive us!" I said.

"Do you have any idea who the voice is?" Naru asked, changing the subject

I shook my head. "I don't know who it is… I just feel like I can trust him."

"And you're okay with this?" Ayako asked Naru.

"If Mai feels like she can trust him, then…" Naru paused for a moment and looked at me. "…then I trust her judgment."

I felt my face get a bit red at him saying that. It felt like I was finally doing something right in all of this.

"Shouldn't we get moving?" Yasu asked, breaking us all away from our conversation, and pointed upwards.

Naru nodded and then we all climbed up the ladder.

* * *

**Okay, I couldn't write anymore. -_- Even if I had ideas…I just couldn't. Do hope it was a good chapter none the less. Thanks for the support and leave a comment. =)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, sorry for the slow update… I know it's not as short as he other times, and I sincerely apologize if this chapter is bad, I was watching Fairy Tail while typing this. And it's the English version, because it's hard reading subs while writing… Plus it's awesome hearing Mai, Ayako, and Naru's English voices in the series. Also, I at least want to get past episode 5 ya know! Anyway, do enjoy.**

**Also, note: The attic is quite big…just so you know. This of the first floor your home…and put four of those together.**

* * *

I couldn't believe my eyes when we were all in the attic. It was filled with mannequins, bottomless and faceless mannequins.

"Who would collect these things?" Monk said, knocking one over with his foot.

"Well," Yasu said, "Mihoko was mentally ill… Maybe that could explain the strange collection of mannequins."

"Or it was another reason," Ayako said, giving one mannequin a thorough look through.

"Instead of worrying about the mannequins," Naru interrupted us, "we should find that ear."

"I can't believe I just heard that…" Ayako muttered as she began to sift through the piled boxes.

It seemed that I was the only one without something to do. Lin was looking through the rafters, being the tallest of the group; Naru and Monk were looking through old chests that were around; Ayako and John were sifting through boxes; and Yasu was looking over the floor to see if there was any hidden compartments.

"_**Behind you…"**_

I turned around and noticed a pile of boxes on the opposite side of the room. They were piled high, to high for me to take them down, but it looked like I could climb over them. But, why would I need to do that?

My question was soon answered when I saw the same ball of light from earlier float through the boxes. I knew right away that I needed to get over those boxes. So, I began climbing.

"What are you doing, Mai?" Monk scolded me as I was almost to the top.

"That's dangerous, Mai!" Ayako shouted, running over to me. "Get down here!"

"Can't you trust me?" I asked, looking down at them. They were silent.

"Leave her be," Naru said, still looking through a chest in the corner of the attic. "If she wants to play around like a child, let her. If she gets injured, it's her own fault."

I glared at Naru's back. _Yep, same Naru… _I thought. _The uncaring jerk we all know… _I rolled my eyes and continued to climb.

"Be careful, Mai," Monk said. "They aren't very sturdy, one wrong move and you'll topple over."

"And who knows what's in them…" Ayako said.

I laughed. "Geez, guys, I'll be-" My sentence was cut off when something grabbed my ankle and pulled me down to the ground with a loud thud.

"Mai!" Monk and Ayako shouted.

"Are you alright?" John's voice asked from the other side. I guess after I fell, everyone stopped to see if I was alright. But knowing Naru and Lin, they didn't stop looking.

"I-I'm fine," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "Something grabbed me and pulled me down." I looked around in the small space that was blocked off by the boxes I just climbed. There wasn't much…

"Why did I need to come over here?" I questioned as I stood to my feet. I sifted around, pulling things away from the wall and moved boxes, that I could lift, around.

On the other side of the box wall, I could hear Monk getting Lin's help to move the boxes out of the way so they could get over. But, I wasn't really focusing on that.

"Oh my-" I gasped when I came to a painting.

"Mai?" John said. "Is everything alright?"

I couldn't find the words to reply, which just made them even more concerned. They managed to get the boxes down, and then they all saw what I was looking at.

It was a picture of…what looked like me… I knew the painting was of Mihoko, which would give us the reason the spirits are so intent on killing me. But that wasn't what shocked me. What shocked me was the state the picture was in.

The picture was covered in red paint, slashing out the face. It was frightening to see it.

"Looks like the paint as been on there for quite sometime," Naru said, running a finger over the painting.

"They must have held some grudge…" Monk muttered.

"That isn't the only one like that…" John said.

We all looked over to him to see him holding two more paintings just like the one we were looking at. The red lines over the face were a bit different on them, but it looked like the same red paint and killer intent that marked up the painting. Let alone, they were both pictures of Mihoko.

"They must have marked every painting like that," Ayako said.

"Well, it's understandable…" Lin said. "Without anything to satiate their desire for revenge, they took it out on anything that had the smallest resemblance to Mihoko…"

"Then we came along," Naru said. "Once they saw Mai, who looks just like Mihoko, they decided to get revenge once and for all." Naru stood to his feet. "But this was already quite clear to us…"

The conversation between the others continued, but as usually I zoned it out. My attention was focused to something behind the painting. It looked like a small chest that had been locked and hidden from prying eyes.

"Hey, Naru," I said, pointing. He looked to me and followed my gaze to the box. "Is that what I think it is?"

Naru bent down and picked up the box. He tried to open the box, but it was locked like I had guessed.

"Guess we have to find a key," Monk said, crossing his arms.

"Or we could just break it," Yasu said.

"Wouldn't breaking it break whatever is inside?" John questioned.

Soon Yasu realized John was right. Since the box was small, there was no way you could just break the lock and have the box out of harm. If you wanted inside, you'd have to break the whole thing.

"Hey," Ayako said, rubbing her arms with her hands, "hasn't it gotten a bit cold in here?"

"It's an attic with a broken window…" Monk said, laughing. "Of course it's cold."

Ayako slapped Monk on the back of the head.

"_**Get out of there…"**_

"Guys…" I said, my voice shaking a bit. Everyone looked to me. "We need to get out of here."

Soon boxes began falling over and glass from old tableware began breaking. The floor boards began breaking and falling into rooms below.

We all made a run for the hatch, avoiding boxes here and there, and trying to avoid the gaping holes being made in the ground. But before I had even managed to get close to the hatch, my ankle was grabbed.

"Mai!" Monk shouted. He grabbed my hand and tried pulling me through the open hatch hole, but it was no use. Whatever had my ankle was pulling a lot harder then he was.

"_**You're not going anywhere…"**_

The grip around my ankle tightened and the strength it was pulling with increased. I screamed, it felt like my leg was about to get pulled out of it's socket.

"_**The fun was just beginning…"**_

I heard a light whistle through the air and knew it was Lin calling his shiki. I heard a loud, chill wrenching, scream and the grip around my ankle was gone. But before Monk had managed to pull me out, a mannequin had fallen and crushed Monk's hand, making him let go and fall back through the hatch.

Two more hands had grabbed my ankles, and continued to pull me toward the giant hole that had been made in the attic. I continued to struggle and I grabbed a few floorboards to keep me from getting pulled any further, but they broke.

Before I was pulled into the dark abyss of the hole, I managed to grab the edge of the hole.

"_**We'll pull you to hell with us…"**_

I couldn't hold on any longer and soon my grip on the edge slipped. But I wasn't falling. Something had grabbed my wrist, trying to pull me up. I looked up and saw Naru, holding my wrist and trying to pull me up with John and Yasu's help behind him.

"Don't let go, Mai," Naru said.

I nodded and gripped his wrist tight.

"We'll get ya up in a minute, Mai," John said, giving me a smile.

"_**Don't get in our way!"**_

The hands continued to pull harder and harder. My legs were burning in pain and I thought they would get ripped off any minute. I closed my eyes and tried keeping my grip on Naru's wrist, but it was slipping.

"_**We said don't get in our way!" **_the voice shouted again.

John and Yasu were pushed back by an invisible force, and the hands pulling me down had won. My grip had slipped, and I was pulled down into abyss, but I wasn't the only one. It seemed Naru had been pulled down with me.

Before I could even feel the ground, I had lost consciousness.

* * *

**Well, that's it. I'm writing the next one now, and maybe…just maybe… I'll get it up tonight. But don't get yours hopes up. It took me awhile to write just this because I kept getting distracted. (Darn music…)**

**Anyway, thanks for all the support! 1 more follower and I'll reach 100! Might I add that that would be the most followers I've had for one story. =) Maybe I should write more…**

**Leave a comment! It's appreciated! Thanks again!**


	18. Chapter 18

**WE'RE IN TRIPLE DIGITS! XD Thank you all who have supported this fanfic, you don't know how happy it makes me. 100 CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!**

** Anyway, I just wanted to say: I was reading over Mai and Naru moments in the manga for Ghost Hunt (actually I'm reading it all over), and I was specifically looking at the one where they were stuck in the well, since this is very similar. Anyway, what I want to say is, I might have made this moment a bit TOO similar to it, as in their actions. I tried not to, but it sort of just came out like that. But I do hope you enjoy this chapter that is JUST A MAI AND NARU MOMENT. I think it's well earned after this.**

**And, thank you Musical Teardrops from requesting this specific moment. I tried my best with it.**

* * *

How many times was I going to get hurt before this all ends? Ten, maybe twenty, times? I don't know how much more I could take it.

"Can you move it?" Naru asked.

"I think so…" I muttered, trying to move my ankle once again.

A few minutes ago I had woken up only to find that Naru and I had dropped a floor down and were currently locked in one of the rooms we passed earlier on our way to the attic. The others had asked us if we were hurt, which was a no on Naru's part, but we weren't so sure about me, again… My ankles were hurting from the hands pulling on me, along with my waist, but I could survive.

At the moment I was feeling useless and a burden to everyone. It seemed that the only thing I was good at was getting hurt. A few times, Ayako and Monk had told me it wasn't my fault, and that it was the ghosts who were at fault. But I could have avoided a few of these attacks…but I didn't.

"Ow!" I said, flinching when Naru turned my ankle.

Naru placed my foot softly on the ground and sighed. "Nothing's broken, but it seems it's been dislocated."

"Can't you…un-dislocate it?" I asked as he sat back down next to me, leaning his back against the wall.

"It's best if Lin or one of the others does it," Naru said, crossing his arms. "There's a good chance I could make it worse."

I sighed and buried my head in my arms as they rested against the leg I could pull towards me.

"Hey, Naru?" I said after a minute of silence. He glanced over to me. "Do you think, after this, that…maybe…I could get a vacation?" Naru just continued to look at me. I sighed and looked away, frowning. "Guess not…"

After that, there was pure silence. It was terrible. The only thing I could do is think about the events that lead us to where we were, which just made my mood worse.

I buried my head once again, shivering at the thoughts that continued to haunt me. I couldn't take it anymore. My head was beginning to hurt, I was cold, and, most of all, I was frightened. I was beginning to loose my sanity.

"Mai?"

I jumped, but I didn't lift my head and look to him. I had finally broke.

"I can't take it anymore, Naru," I muttered.

"Can't take what, Mai?" Naru asked.

"I can't take what's happening!" I shouted. "I feel like I'm going out of my mind!" Tears began running down my face. "No matter where we go, or what we do, they will always try killing me and everyone!" My hands clinched my sleeves. "I just want to go home, Naru…"

Naru was silent as I continued to cry. I didn't want to cry, but I really couldn't help it at the moment.

"Mai."

I looked up a bit, wiping my tears away so I could see. I was soon surprised to see Naru smiling at me, which was very rare indeed. But what shocked me even more was what was in his hand: it was the 500 yen cone from that time we were stuck in the well.

"Do you remember my pet?" Naru asked.

I wiped my face again and pouted. "You mean that 500 yen coin from that one time?"

The coin vanished into Naru's hand after saying, "She always makes fun of me!"

"Quit joking around, Naru," I said. I grabbed his hands. "I know it's in-" I stopped when he opened his hands. I should have learned by now that it wouldn't be there. Even after all this time, I never fully figured out how he did that trick.

"Seems you made him run away," Naru said. Naru then patted his jacket. "Wonder where he went…" Naru frowned when he didn't find it on him, he then looked at me and smirked. "There he is." He reached behind my ear, and pulled the coin out.

I covered my ear with my hand, a bit startled. "How'd you do that?"

Naru wiggled his finger in a no manner, as if he was saying he wouldn't tell.

"Are you still frightened of Mai?" Naru asked the coin.

"A little bit…" the coin said. "She can be judgmental…"

"I am not!" I shouted.

The coin vanished.

"You should have learned from the last time not to raise your voice at him, Mai," Naru said.

I covered my mouth and looked to the ground. I felt like I was a kid again, with no care in the world. I had even forgotten about all the incidents before, well…for the time being that is.

"So, this is where you went…" Naru said, pulling the coin out of his hair. Naru smiled once again and flipped the coin in the air. Once it was back in his hand, he opened his palm and showed it was gone.

"Where'd he go?" I asked.

"He went back home," Naru replied.

I pouted. I kind of wished he would do more magic, but I knew if I pressed him to much he wouldn't do it.

"Feeling better?" Naru asked me, crossing his arms and glancing at me.

"Hm?" I replied, looking up with wide eyes. Did he do that to cheer me up?

Naru simply looked away and didn't ask his question again. I knew what he asked, but I couldn't really find the words to answer him.

"You shouldn't worry to much," Naru said once again. "We'll get out of here soon. In the mean time, everyone will do what they can to keep you from harm." I could have sworn he said "Especially me" under his breath, but I couldn't hear him very well to know for sure. "You're not being a burden to us, Mai." Naru looked at me with a small, very small, smile. "We'll get home before you know it."

I starred at him for a moment or so, before I myself smiled. "Thanks, Naru." I could swear I saw a bit of shock on his face, but that all disappeared when we heard a noise.

Naru quickly got in front of me and pushed me behind him.

"Mai, whatever you do, do not panic," Naru said.

My eyes widened when I looked past Naru to see a familiar ghost in front of us. It was the woman I saw in the hall, the first day we were here. Her head was tilted to the side, and blood was running down her and hitting the ground where her feet should have been.

I covered my mouth and nose, getting the heavy smell of blood in the air.

Naru's hand gripped my arm as if telling me to be calm, trying to reassure me nothing was going to happen.

"We won't let you leave…" the woman said. "We won't let you leave…" She moved closer to us. "We won't let you win…" She was right in front of us now. "We won't let you win…"

My hand gripped Naru's sleeve, and I couldn't say I wasn't scared of her, or what she might do. But Naru seemed completely calm.

The woman raised her hand, the one with the blade in it, and was about to bring it down on us. I closed my eyes and waited.

Pretty soon, the door to the room was kicked down, startling me and Naru. The ghost gasped and vanished.

"You guys alright?" Monk said, running into the room. He no doubt saw what we just did.

"We're fine…" Naru said, letting me go. "Mai's ankle has been dislocated, it's best if we get back to base and take care of it."

Monk nodded.

Naru stood to his feet and walked away. Lin had stopped Naru and talked to him for a few minutes, Naru just nodded and listened. He then said something that made Lin sigh.

"Mai?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked to Monk who was smiling at me.

"Anything else hurting?" he asked. I shook my head. "Alright. Well, hope on my back and I'll carry you back." Monk then smiled at me. I did as he asked and we slowly made our way back to bass.

* * *

**Good? Bad? What was it? Huh, huh?! Anyway, I'll hopefully get a chapter updated during the weekend, but with make up work from the days I missed this week, it's not likely I will. But I'll try anyway. =P Again, thank you for the support, and again, like I usually ask, leave a comment please. ^_^**


	19. Chapter 19

**Well, I can tell you what I did today. **_**This**_** is what I did today, while watching a guy play F.E.A.R. Awesome and scary game. =) But, I didn't do homework…which is bad. Oh well, that can get done later.**

**Anyway, I spent three hours writing down questions I **_**hadn't **_**answered yet…and I'm not even sure I answered them all. So, if you have questions about what's going on and want them answered, LET ME KNOW so I can explain them in the story. =) Thanks**

**Have fun! Btw: Bold italics are the ghosts, just any ghost, even the voice in Mai's head. I'm sure you can tell by speech.**

* * *

"_**They're posing a problem…"**_

"_**Maybe we should get ride of them…"**_

"_**No, not yet… They could be a use…"**_

* * *

When we had gotten back to base, Lin had fix my ankle. It hurt a lot when he was putting it back in place, but once it was all over I was relived. After that we sort of sat there, wondering what our next move will be. With me injured like this for the time being, I couldn't do much.

"So, Mai?" Monk said, leaning back on the couch next to me. "That mysterious voice say anything to you?"

I shook my head. "Not ever since the attic." I looked around, noticing that the narcissist wasn't here. "Where did Naru go?"

"He said something about going to the library," Ayako said, as she and John walked in with a tray of tea and other things. "Knowing him, he's buried in books, trying to figure out anything helpful."

"Shouldn't we help him?" I questioned.

"I'm sure he's fine," John said, giving me a cup. "Here, Mai, I'm sure you need it after what you've been through." I smiled and gladly took the cup from John's hands.

"Thanks, John," I said. He simply smiled at me.

"Well," Monk said, drawing everyone's attention, except Lin who was looking over the data gathered from the attacks, "what exactly should we do now?"

"Well," Ayako said, "with Mai injured, we can't really do much. She's the only one here who is getting clues from a-"

"Ghost?" I questioned.

Ayako sighed and didn't say anymore.

"Well," John said, "I think the best thing we can do is to continue to look for those 'souvenirs' the spirits have been wanting us to find."

"What do we do when we find all of them?" Yasu asked.

"Give them back?" Monk said. "But if we were supposed to do that, then the two things we found wouldn't be needed anymore."

"Didn't Naru say anything about this?" Ayako asked, looking to Monk.

Monk raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me?"

"You two have been talking a lot more…" John said.

Monk looked a bit puzzled at first, but he soon gave an answer. "Well, that's over something else. A-Anyway…"

"We should plan where we're going to look next."

Everyone jumped when Naru had walked in.

"I thought you were in the library," I said.

"I was," Naru stated bluntly.

I sighed. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut until it's necessary.

"What were you doing?" Ayako asked.

"Gathering more information," Naru said. "I looked through the journals Yasu had found hidden in the library. Though a few pages were missing, I managed to solve a few questions that we've been having."

"What questions did we have?" I mumbled to myself. I really couldn't remember what puzzling questions that had filled my mind. I figured that everything had been answered, but then I remembered. "Did you find anything about Yosai?"

"Who the hell is Yosai?" Monk asked. I guess this was the first time hearing the name.

"He's Mihoko's secret lover that we talked about before," Naru answered. "And, yes, I did. As we suspected, Yosai's death wasn't an accident."

"It wasn't?" Ayako said.

Naru simply nodded. "Mihoko's father, Yamakage Katai, killed Yosai." Naru crossed his arms. "I found old newspapers buried in the desk. From what it said, the car Yosai was driving that day was tampered with. The breaks didn't work properly, and when it came to a sharp turn, he was going too fast and ended up crashing.

"Yamakage Katai believe that Yosai would get in the way of Mihoko's arranged marriage to the son of a successful business man; thus, he killed Yosai."

"He couldn't just fire the guy?" Monk said, leaning back. "This Yosai was part of the staff working for the family, wasn't he?"

"Even if he was fired," John said, "there could still be a chance that Mihoko would meet him outside of the house."

"To make sure that didn't happen," Ayako continued, "Yamakage Katai killed him…"

"Correct," Naru said. "Mihoko then slowly became insane and the house hired a butler to take care of her. Later, Mihoko found out about her father's actions."

"So," Yasu said, "Mihoko decided to kill her father because of it?"

Naru nodded.

"But what about her mother and baby sister?" Ayako asked. "Surely they didn't have anything to do with Katai's actions."

Naru sighed. "Do I need to explain everything…?" Ayako and I both glared at him.

_Sorry if we're not as smart as you, Mister I'm-Smarter-Then-Everyone! _I thought.

"It's most likely Mihoko thought her mother was in on the plan to kill her lover," Monk said. "So she killed her. Although, why kill her baby sister, I don't really know…"

"By that time Mihoko probably had lost her mind," John said.

"So, you're saying," I said, shocked, "that Mihoko killed her baby sister because she thought it was fun?!"

Everyone was silent.

"Wait a minute…" Yasu said. We all looked at him. "I remember reading one of the journals and it said something about how Mihoko believed the world needed to be punished for it's actions."

"That was the reasoning behind the other murders she committed," Naru said. "The first family was the Makichi family, which was the business family Mihoko was suppose to marry into. Next is the Shinozaki family, the Murase family, and the Nakanoi family."

"What did they do that pissed Mihoko off so badly?" Monk asked.

Naru took a seat and continued his explanations. "The three wives of the families went to Elementary with Mihoko. Mihoko was constantly teased because of her poor health."

"They were the three that teased her," I said, remembering seeing them in one of my dreams.

Naru nodded. "Shinozaki Chieko, Murase Kaoru, and Nakanoi Fumiyo." Naru grabbed the Death Diary and flipped through the pages. "From what the butler has written in this, those three deaths were probably the most gruesome of all."

"What's worse then getting your eyes stabbed out with scissors and flesh torn off?" I asked, feeling my stomach turn at just the thought.

"Who said anything about that, Mai?" Monk said. I shook my head, telling him I would explain later. Even so, Naru continued speaking.

"Shinozaki Chieko was brutally stabbed, her hands were cut off, and her jaw was completely removed," Naru said.

Ayako covered her mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Murase Kaoru's fingers were pulled off, along with all toes, and everything above the jaw was beaten to dust with a meat mallet."

"Now I'm going to be sick," Monk mumbled. I think everyone was about to be sick, especially me.

"Nakanoi Fumiyo was chopped to pieces, slowly from feet up, with a shaving blade," Naru continued. He shut the book right when Ayako ran out into the hall.

"I don't blame her…" Monk mumbled. "That's disgusting…"

"Other then the murders," Yasu said, swallowing hard from the looks of it, "who was the hired butler that took care of Mihoko?"

"Also the one who helped her commit these crimes," John said.

Ayako had returned, taking in deep breaths, just as Naru was explaining.

"The butler was Hokaga Yukihito," Naru crossed his legs. "From Mihoko's journals, the night before she killed herself, she killed the butler by pushing him down the stairs. After that, she jumped out the window and killed herself."

I put a hand to my chin. _Shinozaki Chieko… _I thought. _That name sounds familiar…_

"_**Stay away from Shinozaki Chieko…"**_

_That was the person the voice told me to stay away from…I wonder why… _I continued to ponder. But my thoughts stopped when Monk spoke up.

"Hey, Naru," he said, "is it possible that Hokaga Yukihito is the mysterious voice Mai has been hearing?"

Naru was silent for a moment, most likely taking that into consideration. Of course, now that I thought about it, it was surely possible.

"It's possible that is the case," Naru said. "But I wouldn't opt that idea just yet."

"Of course you wouldn't…" Ayako muttered.

"Ya know," Monk said, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head, "you sure learned a lot for just a few minutes of research."

Naru smirked. "I can't help but be that brilliant."

I tried so hard not to laugh at that.

"On another note," John said, "we should continue to look for those souvenirs, right?"

"Precisely!" Yasu said cheerfully, making most of us laugh.

Naru flipped through the Death Diary. "The next one should be found in the fourth floor bedroom."

My eyes widened.

"Then let's get going," Monk said.

"No!" I shouted, quickly grabbing Monk by the wrist.

"Mai?" Ayako questioned. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…" I stuttered. I let go of Monk and frowned, looking to the ground. "I think we should stay away from there…until we find the others…"

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Alright," John said. I looked up to see him smiling at me. "If you say we shouldn't go there, then I think you're right." I smiled.

"Well then," Monk sighed, putting his hands behind his head, "if there another that we _can _do?"

Naru sighed and slightly rolled his eyes, probably disapproving everyone's agreement to staying away from the fourth floor bedroom. "There should be one in the library… But I believe it would be best to have Mai around for that one."

"Right," Ayako said. "The library is quite large… It would take quite awhile for only four people to look around."

"I don't think that's what he meant," Monk said.

"I think that he meant it would be faster from Mai's 'mysterious voice' to tell us where it's hidden," Yasu said, smiling. "From the way it's been finding the last two, I think that's also what's best."

Naru slammed the Death Diary, making us all look to him. Was it just me, or was he a bit…touchy?

"In the meantime," he said, walking past everyone, "we should get some rest and recover our energy… Once Mai's able to walk, we'll begin our search again."

"Where are you going?" Monk questioned.

"Back to the Library…" That was the last thing Naru said before leaving.

* * *

**Okay, hope that was a good chapter. Tried my best to explain things. And, I remember the flute! I just need to figure out how to explain that part because…it's quite difficult. I couldn't find anywhere to put it in this chapter, so maybe later when it comes up.**

**Anyway, do hope you enjoyed. =) Leave a message! ….or comment….whatever.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Truthfully, I got lazy and couldn't figure out much. So, this is the best I'd come up with. I do hope you enjoy it nonetheless. =)**

* * *

My ankle was feeling much better after a few hours, but I believed that's thanks to the heat pack John made from things he could find in the kitchen. Also, the conversations everyone had begun to relax made me feel better.

Now it was the time I dreaded: Time to look for the next 'souvenir'.

From what Lin told us, it was a nose belonging to Yakushima Sei. Yes, a nose. I couldn't believe it myself at first, but after listening to the gruesome things from the murders Naru had explained to us minutes ago, and from the gruesome images I have seen in dreams, I would say it's a complete step-down from what I originally guessed.

Monk was kind enough to help me walk to the Library, where Naru was still conducting research. I know he can be a workaholic, but I don't know if this much is good for him. I haven't seen him rest once during the whole investigation, but that's not really saying something if that person is Naru. But, I wouldn't be surprised if he collapses during the case…knock on wood…

"Hey, Naru!" Monk said as we all walked into the Library. Only to our shock, we found Naru resting on the couch. His black jacket was draped over him and I was not that surprised when I saw papers and books everywhere.

"Wow…" Ayako said. "He's not as menacing when he's sleeping."

"Now that I think about it," John said, "this is the first time I've seen him rest during the whole investigation."

"Maybe we should leave him," Monk suggested.

"If you have time to stand around and talk, that means you could be using the time to find that missing limb." We all looked at Naru to see him getting up, as if he wasn't even sleeping.

"Oh, Boss is back…" Yasu said.

"Maybe you should rest more," Monk said, "you've been working harder then any of us on trying to solve this."

"I'm fine," Naru said, bluntly. Naru bent down and picked up a few books from the ground and set them back on the desk. I frowned when I noticed he was staggering a bit, and he seemed a bit pale. Maybe Monk was right in wanting Naru to rest a bit more.

"From the information given," Naru said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "The nose should be hidden in one of the books in this library."

"I can see why you wanted us well rested for this…" Monk mumbled with a small sigh as he let me sit on one of the chairs in the Library.

Soon, everyone was looking at me, and I mean everyone. I blinked blankly, waiting for someone to say something, but they just continued to stare. I looked at everyone for a moment and my eyes soon rested on Naru. He was staring at me just as intently as the others with his arms crossed, waiting for something. My face went red and I broke eye contact.

"W-Why is everyone looking at me?" I said, a bit fearful of the answer.

"Well," Ayako said. But Monk quickly finished for her.

"Any clue?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "W-What?"

Ayako rolled her eyes. "You're the only one who has a voice in her head that tells her where these gross 'souvenirs' are."

I glared. "That doesn't mean that it just automatically lets me know! It takes time!"

"Well," Yasu said, putting a hand to his chin, "is there anyway of contacting it?"

_If that was possible, I wouldn't be sitting here right now! _I thought.

The conversation continued to go between everyone as I sat on the couch, paying no attention to what they were saying about me and the "creepy voice", as they liked to call it. Really, I wished for all the same thing as they did: For it just to tell us where theses items are so we can leave. But that wasn't going to happen.

I looked up and around. The Library was quite large, about two floors with bookshelves filled with books. I could see that the books on the second floor were covered in dust, along with most of the first floor books that Yasu or someone hadn't touched, meaning the really high shelves. But I couldn't help but wonder why no one had gotten to the second floor, that's when I noticed the ladder was gone.

_Wouldn't the Real-estate woman make sure the Library had it's ladder before trying to sell the house? _I wondered. I then looked around once again and saw the ladder, broken, and in a corner. _Guess that'd explain it. _

I continued to look around again as John tried calming everyone and asking them to think rationally, no doubt Naru agreed with him.

I noticed two doors up on the second floor, but again my curiosity got to me and made me ask, "Why didn't we check any of the books on the second floor?"

"The doors were locked," Yasu answered. "Just like all the doors on the fourth floor were locked." Yasu then motioned to the ladder in the corner I had noticed earlier. "And the ladder broke before I could even climb it."

"We don't have any keys to get past these locked doors?" Ayako asked, looking at Naru.

"Like mentioned by Monk and Yasu earlier," Naru said, "there are no keys and real-estate woman who hired us ensured all the rooms were unlocked for our benefit." Ayako gave a small glare to Naru, most likely because he pointed out how she failed to remember such a simple thing.

"_**Find the spare…"**_

_Spare? _I thought. _What spare?_

"_**Fine the spare key…and open the door…"**_

My mind flashed through images of the hallways and then to the stairs leading to the basement. It was like watching a movie, just there was no TV to look at. The images changed quickly and flashed towards a trunk that was kept somewhere in the room. The trunk opened and revealed books, papers, and many other old things. All that was removed and left the small image of a small, rusty, key.

"_**Find the spare key, hidden in my trunk, and you'll be able to open the door…"**_

I shook my head and the images vanished.

"Mai?"

I looked up. "Huh?" Everyone was looking at me again.

"Did you just say something about a spare key?" Yasu questioned.

"When did I say that?" I laughed, but it didn't last long. "I didn't say anything about a spare." _The voice did, but not me, _I gave as an after thought.

"Yes you did," Ayako said. "You said something about there being a spare key to the Library."

"Mai," Monk said, shaking his head, "we all heard you say it."

I didn't say anything about there being a spare. Did that mean that voice used me to speak? Or maybe I did mention it and had hit my head to hard to remember… But I was pretty sure I didn't say anything.

"Mai," Naru said, coldly, "is there a spare?"

I was silent for a moment, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah… The spare is hidden in a trunk in the basement."

"Alright," Naru said. He crossed his arms and looked at the others. "Monk, Ayako, and Yasu, I want you three to go to the basement and look for the spare key."

"Why do I have to go?!" Ayako shouted.

"Stop being a chicken!" Monk said. Ayako slapped him, making some of us laugh.

"John," Naru continued, "you'll come with Mai and I to the second floor, there we'll wait for the others to return with the key." Naru looked to Lin. "Lin, I want you to go back to base and check the recordings we have."

"Wait a minute," Monk said, "why are you having him check the recordings? Did you say yourself they're useless at this point?"

"I did," Naru said, but he didn't continue after that. He simply told Lin something and Lin nodded.

"Why are we splitting up?" Yasu asked. "Wouldn't it be better for all of us to stick together?"

"With Mai's injury, it would be quite a hassle to carry her down to the basement and back up again," Naru answered, receiving a glare from me. "It's best if we split up."

"Right," Monk said. "Well"-Monk took one last look at me and the others-"we'll be going." Monk, Yasu, and Ayako then left with Lin following behind them to go back to base.

"We should get heading upstairs," Naru said to John.

John nodded and helped me stand. Even if my ankle was feeling better, I couldn't fully walk on it. So, John gently helped me walk to our destination upstairs.

* * *

I shifted my position once again. I had been sitting on the floor next to the Library door for almost an hour now. I don't know what was taking Monk and them so long to find a key. It shouldn't have been that hard to find. Unless the basement was like the attic…

I shivered a bit at just remembering the mannequins in the attic.

"You alright, Mai?" John asked.

I smiled at him. "Yeah, just remembering something unpleasant."

John smiled back at me. "It's best not to think about it." It seemed he knew what I was thinking about, I couldn't say that I didn't love this part of John.

"Oh!" I said, just remembering what I wanted to ask. I looked up to Naru who was standing next to me. "If you don't mind me asking, Naru"-Naru glanced down at me-"why did you have Lin check the recordings?"

Naru gave a small sigh. "There was something that bothered me and I wanted him to check it out…" It seemed that was all Naru was going to say to me.

I narrowed my eyes slightly at him, until John spoke up.

"You remember, right, Mai?" he said. "The flute we heard when the power was shut off?"

I put a hand to my chin, trying to remember. "I sort of remember it. But I hadn't heard it since then…"

"Just because you can't hear it, doesn't mean it isn't playing," Naru replied.

I looked up to Naru, but before I could even ask him my question, he stopped leaning off the wall and walked forward, meeting Lin down the hall. Lin handed Naru a few papers and talked for a few minutes, that's when Monk and the others joined.

"Found the key!" Monk said, smiling.

"What happened?" John asked, standing to his feet.

Monk and the others were covered in dust.

"Well…" Ayako said.

"We sort of…had trouble…" Yasu answered.

"Trouble?" I questioned.

Monk nodded and pointed a thumb to Ayako. "A few shelves almost fell on Ayako. It was as if they were pushed."

"Are you alright?" John asked.

Ayako nodded. "I'm fine, but I don't think the ghosts are just after Mai anymore."

"They're probably taking precautions," Naru said, taking the key Monk handed him. "We're posing a threat to their plan of revenge, so they plan on getting rid of us. Starting with who they believe to be the weakest."

"Weak?!" Ayako shouted. "Who are you calling weak?!"

"I never called you weak," Naru said bluntly, unlocking the door with the key. "I said 'with who _they _believe is the weakest'."

Ayako growled, but Naru didn't pay any mind to it and simply walked into the Library.

Monk and John helped me off the floor, we then followed behind.

"Alright," Yasu said, "now what?"

Everyone looked at me again.

"Don't look at me!" I shouted. They looked away and it was silent.

Naru, Lin, Ayako, Yasu, and John began looking over the shelves as Monk helped me stay on my feet. We both looked over shelves with the others, but we weren't getting anywhere.

_Come on voice! _I thought. _When we don't need ya, ya say something! But when we do need you, you're no where to be heard! _I sighed. I then looked to Monk with a smile. "Hey, Monk, you can let me go. I think I'll be fine standing on my own now."

"Ya sure, Mai?" Monk asked. I nodded. "Alright…" It seemed he was unsure about letting me go, but he did. When he saw I could manage by myself, he went to help the others look over shelves, as did I.

I looked over the shelf, above the door on the first floor. The walk way was narrow, but it was big enough for at least two people to fit on. I grabbed a few books and checked them, but found nothing that looked like a nose. I checked one of the shelves for any contraption, but still nothing. I continued to look through books, believing that would be the most likely place for it to be hidden.

I placed the seventeenth book I had looked through back on it's proper shelf and sighed. _Nothing again…_ I reached for the next one in line, but my attention drew to one that fell off it's shelf next to me. I looked to the book on the floor and titled my head.

"_**Pick it up."**_

I reached for the book and picked it up. I looked at the old worn pages and cracked the book open, there I saw a blue, blood covered, bag with a name written in black pen on it. _Yakushima Sei… _My face immediately brightened up

"Hey, Naru!" I said, looking up with the bag in hand. Naru looked over his shoulder at me. "I found it!" I held up the bag with a smile.

"Nice job, Mai!" Monk said from across the room.

I smiled brightly and turned to put the book back on the shelf, after taking out the nose. But I was surprised, and screamed, when a had reached through the bookshelf and grabbed my wrist.

"_**I won't let you take it…" **_I struggled to get free, but the grip kept me firmly there. _**"I won't let you take it…" **_The shelves began rattling and shifting as I continued to try and break free, but I couldn't.

"Mai, move!" Monk has shouted.

"I-I can't!" I shouted.

"_**I won't let you take it!" **_the voice screamed.

"MAI!"

I looked up and saw the books getting pushed off the shelves. My eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen, I shut them immediately afterward. After that, I heard a whistle, a scream, and someone had pushed me out of the way as the books crumbled to the floor.

"Are you alright?"

I slowly opened my eyes and found Naru right in front of me. My guess was from his close proximity and the way he had me against a bookshelf, he had pushed me out of the way.

"I-I'm fine…" I mumbled. _Too close! _I shut my eyes again and looked down. I couldn't stand being so close to him. I could feel his breath on my hair, which just made my blush get worse. I really had hoped he didn't see my face.

"Are you two alright?" Monk shouted, running over to us.

"Fine," Naru replied, pulling away from me. I looked up and saw him scowling, I really couldn't pin point why. "We should get out of here before anything else happens."

Monk nodded and Naru's words. We all quickly got out of there and headed towards base where we kept all our 'treasures', and where we hoped to figure out the next one we needed to find.

* * *

**I do hope it was good...even if I hated it... Anyway, I just had to have it end that way. Trust me, I thought about Monk or John or someone else saving her and I thought, "No... Let's us Naru, I love putting them in these situations." And so, that's how that came out.**

**Thank you for reading, and look forward to the next one. Thank you again.**


	21. Chapter 21

Naru continued to flip through the Death Diary, not saying a word to any of us. It was silent, and I couldn't stand it. Who knew what was going on in his mind, all I knew was: I didn't like it.

"So what's our next course of action?" Monk said, standing up from the ground after he finished wrapping my ankle.

"We'll search the kitchen," Naru said, bluntly.

"Why do we need to search the kitchen?" Ayako asked, cocking a hip and placing a hand on it. "Don't tell me-"

"Mushashibo Kaori," Naru read off. "Killed in the kitchen by blunt force to the head and multiple stab wounds." Naru turned the page in the Death Diary. "Her eye was taken and hidden in the kitchen."

Ayako looked like she was going to be sick again, and so did the rest of the gang.

"We _ate _from that kitchen…" Monk mumbled.

"Who knows what…" Yasu stopped himself from continuing, looking just as green as Ayako was looking.

"Instead of debating this," Naru said, shutting the book, "we need to find that eye."

John crossed his arms and looked like he was deep in thought.

"What's wrong, John?" I asked, getting help from Yasu to stand to my feet.

John looked at me with a smile and laughed. "I was just wondering what an eye would look like after 10 years."

"It won't be pretty…" Monk mumbled, helping me as we all made our way down to the kitchen.

"Wouldn't it just look like a dried up ping-pong ball?" Yasu questioned with a smile.

"Not necessarily…" Monk answered. "If we're considering Mihoko's personality in this…"

"Then it's most likely she kept the eye well preserved," Naru answered.

My smile faltered. "Y-Y-You mean, it'll look like it was just torn out?" Naru nodded. I tried swallowing the lump in my throat, but it wouldn't leave. My imagination roamed around with the many things just given, and I felt like I was going to throw up…again…

* * *

We all had reached the kitchen and began our investigation. Lin, Monk, and Yasu searched the high shelves circling the kitchen; John and Ayako looked in the lower parts of the kitchen; and Naru searched the dinning room, believe that it's possible instead of hiding it in the kitchen, Mihoko hid it somewhere near.

Me on the other hand, stayed sitting in a chair, in the corner of the kitchen. I was useless, again. I wished to help, but it was so difficult to walk with my ankle the way it was. Also, Naru had ordered me to sit down, and I didn't want to get him too angry at this point.

"Nothing in this shelf!" Ayako said, slamming the door and sighing. "How many do we have to go?"

"A lot…" John mumbled, giving a sigh of his own.

"Nothing's up here either…" Monk said. He put his hands on his hips and took a breather. "Right about now, Mai's little voice could be of help."

"Well, sorry," I said, "it doesn't want to help." Monk narrowed his eyes at my sarcasm and soon began looking through the shelves again, along with Ayako and John.

As if right on queue, the small voice that had been following me around had spoken. _**"Cold…"**_

A small light passed in front of me and floated towards the giant metal door, which was the freezer, and passed through.

_There? _I questioned.

I stood to my feet and tried my best to limp over to the door. It hurt, but I had managed. I reached for the handle once I was there, and the door easily opened for me. I looked in it, and felt the cold air rush at me, making me shiver. I peeked in to see boxes and boxes on shelves, all having snow and ice covering their tops.

"_**Middle shelf….back…" **_the voice told me.

I did as it said and walked into the freezer, making my way slowly towards the back. The floor was covered in snow and ice, so I tried my best not to slip, but it was quite difficult.

* * *

*Narrator P.O.V.*

"That's the last shelf…" Monk said, sighing and leaning against the counter.

"Have you found anything?" Naru asked, walking into the kitchen.

"No," Lin answered. "Nothing except food and dishes."

"Speak for yourself," Ayako said, cocking a hip. "We found a dead rat!"

"Or three," John said, giving a sheepish smile.

"Hey," Yasu cut in, looking around the room, "where's Mai?"

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V.*

I had reached the back and began searching the shelves, and that's when I spotted it behind a few boxes: A jar containing a Mushashibo Kaori's eye.

I immediately screamed when it turned in the liquid and looked at me.

* * *

*Narrator P.O.V.*

"Was that Mai's scream?" Monk asked, quickly standing to his feet from the counter he was leaning on.

"It came from the freezer!" Ayako said, pointing. But right after she said that, the freezer door slammed shut.

Everyone quickly ran over and Monk, along with Lin, tried their best to open the door.

Monk cursed under his breath. "It won't open! It's like it's been super glued shut."

Lin looked to the thermostat next to the refrigerator door and saw it quickly going down.

"We need to get that door open before she freezes to death," Lin said.

"Find something to get that door open!" Naru ordered.

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V.*

"_**I see you…"**_

I backed up into a shelf behind me as the woman's voice continued to repeat that phrase. The eye jolted to the left, then to the right, then back at me.

"_**It's so cold…"**_

I heard the door slam shut, making me jump and slip on the ice at my feet.

"_**Freeze…"**_

I stood as quickly as possible and made my way to the door, trying to push it open. I pounded on the door, but I doubted anyone outside could hear me.

"_**FREEZE TO DEATH!"**_

The temperature began to get colder and colder, as if someone was slowly turning down the thermostat outside the door. I felt my body temperature going down, but continued to try getting the door open, even shouting for anyone to hear me.

My hands began shaking as I felt the cold affecting me even more. I began shivering no stop as the seconds passed by. I continued to pound against the door, but it continued to stay shut.

I turned around, leaning against one of the shelves. My energy was suddenly gone, along with all the warmth my sweeter was giving me. _Today was a bad day to wear a skirt_, I realized.

I dropped to my knees, having all my energy suddenly gone. I looked up and could clearly see the eye looking at me. It looked like it was smiling, even thought it had no lips or face.

"_**You won't win…" **_the voice continued to say. _**"We'll make sure you don't leave… Freeze…freeze…freeze to death."**_

My eyes were begging to shut on me, and my breath was beginning to get less and less, I could feel it as my heart began to slow. It felt like the darkness was trying to pull me in.

"Please," I mumbled, "Naru…" Before I could say anything else, I collapsed.

* * *

*Narrator P.O.V.*

"We found something!" John shouted as he and Ayako came running back.

It seemed that in their absence Monk had tried several things he found lying in the kitchen: A fire extinguisher, a metal pipe, and an ice pick. At this point he was hoping anything could work.

"We found a crowbar," Ayako said, panting.

John gave the crowbar to Monk, and Monk was quick to get it into the door and trying to pry it open. Him pushing on it didn't make the door budge in the slightest. That's when he backed up and kicked it, making it bend backwards, but the door still wouldn't open.

"It would be nice if someone helped!" Monk shouted, panting from all his movements.

Lin helped, saying as no one else was as strong. He kicked the crowbar, along with Monk, making it bend back even more.

"It's -27 degrees and dropping," Yasu read off. This made Lin and Monk kick even harder.

Pretty soon, the door broke open a crack, allowing them to open it fully to find Mai lying on the ground, unconscious.

"MAI!" Ayako screamed as Lin and Monk quickly pulled her out from the freezer.

Yasu, on the other hand, grabbed the eye that he saw in the back, knowing that no one else would be able to get it later. He also knew that if no one grabbed it, Naru was going to have a fit once everything else settled down.

"She's unconscious," Monk said to Naru as he kneeled near them.

"Her pulse is weak…" Lin also said, looking over Mai to see her extremely pale, fingers and lips blue, and barely breathing. "Hypothermia has set in, we need to warm her up, quickly."

"I'll go get some blankets," John said, quickly running out of the room.

"Miss Matsuzaki," Lin said, looking to Ayako who looked at him with concern, "get some hot water." Ayako nodded and quickly ran to the sink.

Naru took off his jacket and placed it over Mai's legs. He knew what he needed to do, mostly because he studied Hypothermia many times in cases. It was doubtful that John could come back quick enough before Mai's heart completely stopped. So, now it was his turn to do something.

"Uh, Naru?" Monk questioned with a rather puzzled look. "What are you…?"

Everyone watched, shocked, even Lin himself was shocked at Naru's…precipitousness. They couldn't say, or do, anything except watch as Naru unbuttoned his shirt.

* * *

**Okay, okay, I know what you all are thinking, "What the hell were you thinking?" Well, I don't know the answer to that. I thought it, I wrote it, that's it. =/**

**I do hope it wasn't bad, I actually quite enjoyed writing this, and the cliffhanger just had me laughing nonstop. I do hope your imaginations are wondering now. Because I'm full of ideas. =)**

**If you're wondering what "precipitousness" means, it means rashness, done without much thought. Kind of like suddenness. And yes, it is a word. I actually just learned it. =/ THANKS DICTIONARY! =D**

**Anyway, thanks for the support for this fan fiction, and I hope the support continues. There WILL be a sequel, I have decided, and I am writing out plans for others as well. =) Anyway, look forward to the next chapter and thank you again.**

**Reviews are very much welcomed!**


	22. Chapter 22

"Am I dead?" I asked myself as I awoke in an all white place.

"No, Mai, you're not dead." I turned my head to see Naru looking down at me, smiling. "You're simply sleeping." His hand rested on my forehead and brushed my hair away from my forehead.

"What's going on?" I asked, sitting up and looking at him.

Naru simply continued to smile at me. "You'll find out when you wake up. For now, I need you to listen to me."

"A-Alright."

"Once you find all the parts belonging to those who were killed here," Naru said, looking serious, "I want you to go to the Fourth Floor Bedroom."

"But, Naru, you-"

"I know what I said, Mai," he said, putting a finger to my lips to silence me. "But, I need you to do that. If you go any sooner, you _will _be killed." My eyes widened. "The only way to get out is to appease Shinozaki Chieko, by finding what she needs."

"But what about the other…_pieces_ we're finding?" I questioned.

"Take them to the Fourth Floor Bedroom and give them to Chieko," Naru continued. "Then find what Shinozaki Chieko is missing."

"But-" Before I could even continue with what I was saying, Naru cut me off again with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Mai, but I can't answer anything else." He lightly hugged me, making me feel a sudden warmth course through my cold body. "Just do as I say and everything will be alright. You'll get out of here."

I closed my eyes and hugged him back. "Alright…" After that, I faded into black.

* * *

"What the hell was he thinking?!"

That was the first thing I heard as I began waking up. I was still too weak, and far to comfortable in whatever warmth was surrounding me, to open my eyes and see what was going on. All I knew was that Monk was shouting.

"I actually find it quite cute." It was Yasu talking. "I never figured he'd be so bold."

"She was dieing!" Ayako shouted. "He was smart for what he did, even if it was a bit…"

"Intimate? Adorable? Erotic? Sensual?" Yasu continued. "Racy? Lewd? Spicy? Sti-"

"Alright, that's far enough," Monk said. Most likely everyone's faces were red. Even mine was and I didn't even know what they were talking about. "All I'm saying is, I'd rather have John do such a thing instead of him!"

"But…" John was saying, until Ayako cut in.

"He's a priest!" she shouted. "He would never do such a thing!"

Monk and Ayako then began fighting.

"On the bright side," Lin cut in, making everyone silent, "it was good what he did, even if it was a bit brash." Lin sighed for a moment. "Her body temperature is coming back to normal, telling from the color on her face."

"Still…" Monk said, most likely pouting.

That's when I decided to open my eyes and found myself in blankets.

"Oh dear," Yasu said, looking at me, "seems she's awake."

"That's a relief," John said, smiling.

"Now we just need _him _to wake up," Monk said, crossing his arms and leaning on the counter of the kitchen.

I looked around to see where exactly I was, and I was shocked beyond belief. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, let alone feeling. My face immediately turned crimson.

I was in Naru's arms, under blankets, and he was shirtless. Yep, shirtless. On top of that, he was sleeping, which made my face turn even redder when I thought about how adorable he was.

"Mai, don't freak out," Yasu said. "He's simply giving you a loving embrace because we all figured you were going to die."

_Is that suppose to be a joke?! _I thought, my eyes still not leaving Naru's face. I moved a bit, but that just made the situation worse. My hands had brushed up against his chest, making me feel his soft skin.

What the hell am I saying?! Get me out of this!

"Well," Yasu said, holding up the jar with the eyeball in it, "I'm going to take this up to base."

"We'll come with you," Ayako said, dragging Monk by the ear, and John by the hand.

"H-Hey!" Monk continued to shout as he was pulled away.

"I'm going to go along," Lin said. "I need to look over some footage." Lin then left, but I could _swear _he was smirking. That wasn't normal, completely not normal.

I looked around, beginning to panic. What was I going to do? I was in a shirtless Naru's arms! This has got to be a dream or something.

I felt something move up my side and I got pressed against Naru's chest even more. It seemed he was moving in his sleep, holding me closer.

_This isn't a dream! _I thought. I looked up and saw Naru's face inches from mine. He seemed so innocent and sweet when he was sleeping, completely different from the monotonous Naru we all know.

I didn't know until Naru began waking up that I had been staring so long.

"Mai?" he said, looking directly at me.

My face flushed again. "Oh, hi, Naru!" I laughed.

Naru took one of his hands off of me, but the other was still firmly wrapped around me. He rubbed his face and looked around, until he looked right back at me.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked, dead serious.

I thought for a moment. "Uh…I remember walking into the freezer and finding the eye. Then the door shut on me. But after that I can't remember anything." I looked down, my eyes continuing to draw to Naru's bare chest. "I really don't remember how…"

"You wouldn't," Naru said, closing his eyes like he usually did when something was obvious. "I knew that John wouldn't return quick enough with the blankets, and warm water wasn't going to do much for you, so, I did what I could do."

"S-So," I stuttered, "in other words…you warmed me using body heat?"

Naru looked at me, most likely seeing I was nervous. Pretty soon I saw that narcissistic smirk that I had always hated.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," he said, "I know I'm hot."

My nervousness vanished and left me with a blank stare at him.

Naru's smirk vanished and turned into a look that actually read, "Are you _that _stupid?"

I glared. "We should get back to the others." I tried standing, but Naru quickly began holding me again.

"You're still shivering," he said. I hadn't even noticed that I was shivering, but I don't' know if that's because of how embarrassed I am or if I'm cold still. "A few more minutes and I'm sure you'll be fine."

My face reddened and I could only find myself nodding. After that, we were silent until Yasu and the others came back, laughing and joking around. But that all quickly stopped when Naru scolded them. Everything was normal, except the unsteady heartbeats I heard. I couldn't help but wonder, _Is that my heart or Naru's?_

* * *

**Alright, I'm done. 3 pages in word. I know, kind of short. Best I could do. Got to go write Psycho-Pass now. =P Anyway, do hope it was good. XD See ya~!**


	23. Chapter 23

"I think we need to split up," Naru said.

Everyone, including me, stared at him. Was he crazy? If we split up to search for the next piece of parts, then we'd be in serious trouble! Who knows what could happen now that the ghosts are after all of us.

"Are you crazy?!" Ayako screamed, voicing the exact thing I was thinking. "Don't you remember what happened last time we did that?!" She must have been talking about when she, Monk, and Yasu went down to the basement.

"We'll find two pieces at once," Naru said, bluntly. "It's better, and faster."

"I agree," John said. "But, it is dangerous. We need to be careful."

"Well, easiest way to solve this," Monk said. He looked to me. "What do you think, Mai?"

"Why are you asking me?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Naru's the boss here." Even if I hated to admit it sometimes, I was right. I shrugged. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Says the girl that got locked in the freezer..." Yasu said.

"Hey!" I shouted back. "That wasn't my fault!"

"Enough of the shouting," Naru said, glaring at each and every one of us. We were immediately silent. "Let's just get looking for those pieces." Naru pointed to Ayako, John and Yasu. "You three will need to search the bathroom for Nagumo Tae's skull."

"Wait, wait, wait," Ayako said. "Are you talking about the bathroom right next to here where Mai almost _died twice_?!"

"I think it was three times," I muttered, but truthfully I couldn't remember.

Ayako glared at me.

"Yes," Naru said, "that's the room." He turned to Monk. "Monk, you'll be with me and Lin in searching the 3rd floor bedroom."

"What about me?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me as if I was asking the stupidest question possible. I sighed. Saying as I wasn't aloud to step into the bathroom, that only left one more option. "I guess I'm with Monk then..."

"Let's get moving," Naru ordered. We then all went our separate ways.

* * *

Pretty soon, Monk, Naru, Lin, and I were passing the third floor banister and stairs. That's when I heard an unfamiliar voice in my head. It wasn't like the one that had been leading me around the place. It was creepier.

_**"Come, follow me." **_I felt a small chill run down my spine and I turned around, but nothing was there. _**"Come play with us!" **_I was just realizing that it sounded like a child. Were children actually stuck in this place too and I was just realizing it?

My feet stopped and I felt like I was glued in place. I looked down, but nothing was keeping me from walking forward. So, why did I stop?

_**"Come play with us, Mihoko!" **_

_**"Alright."**_

I felt another chill run down my spine, but after that I was at a loss. Before me was the normal hall, but Monk, Naru, and Lin were gone. Now, right in front of me, was Mihoko and her butler, along with three littler children: two girls and one boy.

Everyone was laughing and running around. That soon all stopped.

Mihoko and the butler were gone, leaving the three children. They stopped laughing and playing, and turned to me with smiles on their faces. I was frightened. Their smiles were twisted, thirsting for blood.

_**"You killed us."**_

I tried backing up, but my feet were firmly in place. They fully turned to me, still smiling.

I gasped and placed my hands over my mouth. Their skin was falling off, along with the muscle, leaving trickles of blood as they stepped toward me and bones where the skin and muscle should be. Their eyes were turning to dust, only leaving the hollow sockets. This was probably the worst thing that I had to have seen in my time being here, other then getting stabbed with scissors.

"_**You killed us..."**_

They kept repeating it and continued to walk towards me. I struggled to move, but I still stayed firmly in place. I jumped and felt chills run over my skin as they touched my legs, wrists, and waist, looking up at me.

"_**Why did you kill us, Mihoko?" **_they questioned. My feet began moving again and I backed away, but they stayed latched onto me. _**"All we wanted to do was play..."**_

I felt the banister behind me, and knew I was stuck in place again.

The children's faces became even more twisted, even if all the flesh was gone leaving their blood covered bones.

_**"You killed us!"**_

They then pushed me, making me fall off the banister.

* * *

*Narrator's P.O.V.*

Monk had stopped walking, noticing that Mai had stopped walking a bit of ways behind them. He looked over his shoulder and saw Mai just standing there, facing the banister as her eyes focused at her feet.

"Naru, hold up a moment!" Monk said, turning to see Naru far down the hall. Naru stopped and looked back with Lin, seeing Mai just standing there. Naru narrowed his eyes, having a bad feeling about what was happening.

Monk took a step forward. "Mai?" She didn't answer and continued to stare at her feet. Monk had noticed that Mai's eyes were glazed over, as if she wasn't there anymore.

Naru narrowed his eyes again and noticed Mai take a step forward, towards the banister. That's when he knew that the person standing there wasn't Mai.

"Monk!" Naru shouted. Monk looked over his shoulder, surprised. "Stop her!"

Monk quickly turned around and saw Mai standing at the banister, leaning over. He made a run for it, but by the time her reached the banister, she had thrown herself over. Luckily, Monk's quick reflexes had helped and he managed to grab her wrist, keeping her from falling to her death.

Monk tried pulling her back over, but it was quite difficult with just him along. He wasn't saying that Mai was heavy or anything, it's just that all her weight was just dangling. She wasn't even moving. She wasn't there.

Lin and Naru quickly ran over, leaning over the banister and helping Monk pull Mai back over. Once she was back over, all three collapsed to the floor with Mai collapsing in Monk's arms.

"What the hell?!" Monk shouted, panting from his loss of energy.

Naru quickly turned Mai around, having her back leaning against Monk's left arm. Monk was a bit puzzled at first, but he soon saw that Mai's eyes were glazed over. The lackluster that they usually gave was gone, as if her body was an empty shell.

"She's been possessed again..." Naru muttered, giving a small curse that Monk was surprised to hear.

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V.*

I was quick and gripped onto the banister, keeping me from falling to my supposed death.

"_**Let go..."**_

The children grabbed my wrists and arms, trying to pry me away from the railing. I tried holding on, but their strength was quite surprising considering their age.

_**"Let go of the railing, Mai..."**_

My eyes widened when I heard Naru's voice through my ears. I shook my head and looked down to see the fall below me. Tears began streaming down my face as the pain in my arms and wrist increased.

_"I'll die is I let go!" _I thought.

"_**Trust me, Mai. Let go of the railing..."**_

I looked up.

I trusted him. I truly did. Which is why I did what I did...

I bucked up all my courage and let go of the railing. I slipped through the children's hands, the bones scrapping against my skin and leaving tears. I fell and hit the ground.

* * *

**Alright, everyone! I just had to leave it there. I just had to. But I'm writing the next parts now, so don't worry. =) Anyway, do hope you enjoyed and aren't mad at me...too much. Love ya!**

**Thanks for all the support!**


	24. Chapter 24

*Narrator's P.O.V.*

Mai still wouldn't stop staring in front of her, eyes still glazed over. She wasn't listening to anything being said.

"Should we get John?" Monk asked, looking up to Naru.

"No," Naru answered, "there's no need to."

Monk looked at Naru like the boy was crazy. "What do you mean, 'there's no need to'?!" Before Monk could even continue, Mai's deep breath made them look at her.

Mai still didn't move. Her breathing was quick like she had just finished running or if she was being brought back from death. Tears soon ran down her face and she looked up to see the three familiar faces.

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V*

"Monk...Naru...Lin..." I said said, looking at each one of them. "W-What..." My words caught in my throat as I remembered what had happened. Tears streamed down my face and I couldn't stop them.

"Mai," Naru said, sounding a bit gentler then his usual tone, "what happened?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I didn't want to talk about it, nor did I want to remember it. So, I continued to cry.

"Mai?" Monk's voice asked gently. I felt his hand rest on my head, making me feel a bit better, but I was still scared. I felt so bad. Something so horrible happened.

Before I knew it, my body had lunged forward and latched onto the nearest thing I could hold, which was Naru who was kneeling in front of me.

* * *

*Naru's P.O.V.*

I was surprised when Mai suddenly latched onto me, gripping me tightly as she cried even more then before. Whatever had happened, she didn't want to repeat it. But I couldn't just leave her latched onto me. It was embarrassing, especially since Monk and Lin were laughing at me. Yes, even Lin.

"Mai," I said. Monk glared at me and shook his head, as if telling me to shut up and just let her be. So, I did. I really don't know why I did, but I just couldn't stand seeing her cry. Yes, Mai has cried in front of me before, but this a bit different from those other times.

Mai continued to cry against me, gripping my shirt tightly in her small hands. I didn't move from my position, nor did I try comforting her.

I looked down, and that's when I noticed it: the bruises and cuts at Mai's side when her sweeter lifted up. I also noticed they were on her ankles and legs, faint but there.

I suddenly felt anger wash over me. Whether I was angry at myself, or the ghosts who were trying to get revenge on 'Mihoko', I didn't know. I just knew I was angry.

* * *

*Mai's P.O.V.*

Naru didn't bother pushing me away, even if I knew he was annoyed with my actions. I sort of felt safe clinging onto him like this. That was until he pushed me away, shocking me.

Naru gripped my wrists and winced, feeling a tinge of pain in them. He lifted my sleeves.

"H-Hey, Naru, what-?!" Monk stopped talking when he saw how my arms looked. scratched and a hand prints on both arms and wrists.

I sniffed, my crying suddenly stopping.

"What happened?" Naru ordered, looking very angry.

I looked into his eyes, seeing them very cold and giving no emotion like normal. I felt myself calm when Monk's hand rested on my shoulder, and that's when I explained everything.

The only person who looked surprised was Monk.

"That's..." Monk was saying, until Naru spoke.

"Take her back to base," Naru ordered, releasing me and standing to his feet. Without any other words, Naru walked away.

"Naru!" Lin shouted, quickly running after a very pissed off Naru. Had I done something wrong?

"Come on, Mai," Monk said, helping me stand to my feet.

I looked up to Monk to see him smiling down at me, giving me reassurance.

"Everything's going to be okay," Monk said, giving me a hug. "I'm sure Naru knows what he's doing..."

I nodded and we continued on our way back to base, still having questions about where Naru went.

* * *

"What the hell happened?!" Ayako shouted, running over to me.

"We'd...rather not say..." Monk said, setting me on the couch. "Did you guys find the skull?"

Yasu held up a skull and smiled. "Yep!"

John smiled. "Where's Kazuya?"

"He stormed off..." I muttered.

"Stormed off?" Ayako repeated. "Where?"

Monk shrugged. "No clue. He just ran off with Lin following."

"Well," Yasu said, "it's normal, right?

"Yeah..." I said, still sort of feeling responsible for him running off. Where did he go?

* * *

**Alright, I'm done... I'm tired. I'm writing more though... Anyway, thanks for the support. Thanks for reading. I'll get a new chapter up later today or this week, I don't know. I really have no clue what I'm saying right now. Anyway, sorry it's short, do hope you enjoyed.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Alright guys, we are nearing the end of our story here. But don't fret, because there will be more. =) Remember! SEQUELS! Yes, more then one. And the sequels are going to be great. XD I think... Might be a little bit more frightening then this one, but I don't see how this is all that creepy...but I'm the writer... But the sequels are probably going to have some of my worst fears. Because, Ghost Hunt had a few of my worst fears. But those are going to be a surprise for you all.**

**Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this, whether it is the end of the story or not. =) It's a surprise.**

**Enjoy and thank you for all the given support.**

* * *

It had been six hours since we last saw Naru, and I was beginning to become more and more worried about what had happened. I felt responsible for making him run off like he did. He seemed angry. Little did I know that it wasn't my fault.

"This place isn't that big," Yasu said, "so he couldn't have gone far, right?" Yasu smiled, trying reassure me and the others.

"This place has four floors, a basement, secret rooms, a mine shaft underground, and an attic," Ayako said. "It's hard telling where he went." Ayako sighed and crossed her arms. "If we want to know, it's best if we just stay here."

"Is it possible he ran into some trouble?" Monk suggested.

"He has Lin," Yasu said. "Plus, Boss can handle himself pretty well against ghosts. It's doubtful he ran into trouble."

"But it is possible," John said.

I looked to my hands. This would have never happened if I wasn't stupid and latched onto him like that. I should have just told them everything from the beginning and hid the fact that I was so scartched up until later.

I looked to the ceiling. _Then again, maybe that wouldn't have been the best thing._

"Naru!"

I quickly looked towards the door to see Naru, and Lin, walking into the room. They were covered in dirt, dust, and scratches. Where had they been?

"Where have you two been?!" Monk shouted.

"Finding the last of the pieces we need to get out of here," Naru answered.

Everyone looked at Lin to see him holding a chest. Lin set the chest on the ground and opened it, revealing a toe, hand, foot, and tongue. Naru had placed the other pieces we had found into the chest and then looked at us.

"We should find the last piece before it comes too late," he said. "Now that we only need one, it's plausible that the ghosts will become more violent then they are now..."

"Meaning?" I asked. Everyone looked to me, then back to Naru, waiting for the answer.

Naru was serious in reply, nor did he try going around it and soften the truth for me. "If another attack on you happens, it's doubtful we'll be able to stop them."

"In other words," Yasu said, "Mai is likely to die..."

Naru nodded at Yasu. "Which makes it the best decision to find the last part and leave."

"But," Ayako said, "what do we do once we _find _that last part? Just leave it in the chest and the door is magically going to unlock?"

"Mai?" Naru said, looking to me with crossed arms. "Do you know anything?"

I shifted in my seat and looked to the ground, taking a breath.

"I was told to take them to Shinozaki Chieko," I replied. "She's in the fourth floor bedroom...where the last piece is."

"Didn't you say to stay away from there?" Monk questioned. I nodded.

"It makes since," Naru said. We all turned to him. "Shinozaki Chieko hated Mihoko more then anyone. When she died, she was probably even more angry than anyone else. Her spirit refused to cross over until she herself killed Mihoko."

"Then why are we just standing here?" Ayako said, placing her hands on her hips. "We should get moving and appease that woman already! I want to get out of here!" Ayako sighed. "Then maybe I can actually have a cup of decent coffee..."

"I think I'm going to go on vacation after this..." Monk sighed.

"If you do, bring me," Yasu said with a smile.

I laughed as Yasu's teasing continued. My laughing soon stopped when I realized that we were finally going to get out of this place. Then my thoughts wandered to things that could possibly happen to us, that's when I frowned.

"_**You don't need to be frightened..."**_

I perked when I heard the familiar, unknown, voice that had been with me for awhile. I had kind of gotten used to it, but I still wondered who exactly it was.

"_**You and your friends are going to be fine..."**_

"_But I thought Shinozaki Chieko was the most dangerous?" _I thought in reply.

"_**She is..." **_That didn't reassure me even a bit. _**"But I won't let anything happen to you or your friends. As my repentance, I will set things right."**_

"_Repentance?" _I then began thinking things through. True, I wasn't the smartest person in SPR, as Naru put it most of the time, but I could piece together things when it really counted. Most of all, I believe I just solved the puzzle that had been wandering through my mind since the beginning. _"Are you, by any chance, Hokage Yukihito?"_

The voice was silent, as if it had left, but then it finally spoke. _**"That's correct." **_It was then gone, leaving me shocked. I couldn't believe I got it right.

"Mai?"

I jumped and looked up to see John looking at me, tilting his head to side. "Is everything alright?"

I smiled brightly and stood to me feet, holding up a thumb. "I'm prefectly fine! Just happy to get the chance of getting out of here!" I then laughed, making everyone around me smile (except Naru and Lin of course).

* * *

After a while, we were all standing in front of the Fourth Floor Bedroom. Just looking at the door gave me the creeps. It was as if it was emitting this dark aura around it, that just wanted to drag me in.

I reached for the handle, and that's when the soft sound of a flute filled the air.

"A flute?" Monk questioned.

"Just like that time in the main hall..." Ayako whispered.

I looked over my shoulder to Naru, see if he was willing to give any answers. He just stared at me. He wasn't going to answer anything and I knew it.

I looked back to the door and sighed. I reached for the knob once again, and turned it.

The door opened with a loud, and slow, squeak. Making me step back into the others.

"I hate it when doors do that..." Ayako mumbled.

"It is quite spooky..." Monk agreed.

"It's a door," Naru said, looking at us. "Get over it." Naru then walked into the room ahead of us, not even stopping for a second.

I took a deep breath and walked in after him, that's when I felt like a train had hit me full on. I covered my mouth and nose, feeling sick when the smell of blood came to me.

"Mai?" John said, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"It smells so bad..." I said, feeling weak in the knees and falling. John supported me before I had managed to hit the ground.

John was saying something to Naru and others, and they answered, but my ears failed to hear any of it. I closed my eyes, my head suddenly hurting.

"_**Glad you made it, Mihoko..."**_

I opened an eyes a bit to see Ayako in front of me, trying to say something, but I still didn't hear. That's when my eyes widened to the figure across the room.

Shinozaki Chieko stood there, blonde hair falling at the sides of her face and a white dress, similar to those of the ghosts I've seen before, covered in blood. Her hands were gone and stab wounds covered her shattered figure, but that wasn't what freaked me out about her.

Her entire jaw was gone, only leaving the roof of her mouth showing. Drops from the pulled off jaw were still present, dripping to the ground as she just stood there staring with the most threatening eyes.

"_**Surprised?" **_a woman's voice said. I figured it was Chieko's, but I couldn't see how she could speak with the way she was, but she was ghost, I shouldn't have been so surprised. _**"You did this to me..."**_

"I didn't do anything!" I shouted at her.

I'm sure everyone saw her standing there, and were thinking the exact same thing.

"_**Of course you did, Mihoko..."**_

For some reason I wasn't feeling as scared anymore. Instead I was feeling very angry, which made me snap.

I stood to my feet and shouted, "I'm tired of this!" Everyone looked at me, surprised. "I'm not Mihoko, nor will I ever be!" My fists clinched. "If you want to get your revenge on someone, do it to someone else!" I couldn't belive I even said that.

Chieko looked at me with shocked eyes, and she was silent. Pretty soon, her eyes narrowed and she looked even angrier then before.

"_**LIER!"**_

She lunged forward, but froze, before even touching me, at the sound of Naru's words. "Don't touch her."

Chieko turned around, as did most of us. Naru stood, holding a bone in his hands as he stood behind the chest Lin had carried up.

"You wanted this, right?" Naru said, holding out the bone, most likely Chieko's jaw.

Chieko looked shocked. _**"Where did you find that?"**_

"Do you want it or not?" Naru spat. Naru threw the bone and it rolled to Chieko's feet. She just stared at it.

"Or was it this that you wanted?" Naru kicked over the chest, letting all the body parts fall out and onto the floor.

Chieko's eyes widened even more, and she looked frightened. _**"T-This...isn't..." **_She shook her head. _**"I won't let you leave. You won't leave. You can't leave."**_

Just then, Chieko screamed, making us all cringe by the horid sound. Soon, the sound began fading along with her body and the body parts that spralled the floor. Then she was gone.

"Is it over?" Ayako asked.

"I guess so..." Monk said, looking kind of surprised.

"That wasn't what I expected at all..." Yasu said.

"No matter the case," Naru said, walking away, "we should be able to leave now."

That's when we made our way downstairs and to the front door, but not before I heard the faint whisper in the air saying, _**"Thank you."**_

* * *

*Narrator's P.O.V.*

Both Monk and John looked at each other and nodded. They then reached for the door's handles, and turned. Low and behold, the door had opened, letting in the fresh clean air of outside. Everyone was smiling, even Naru and Lin were smiling but only in the slightest.

"Finally!" Monk said, stretching.

"Freedom!" Yasu shouted, collapsing into the grass.

John laughed as everyone seemed to enjoying the fresh air.

Monk perked when he heard a small thud from behind. He turned around and was shocked to see Mai, and Naru, had collapsed.


	26. Epilogue

When I had woken up, I had found myself in the hospital with everyone from the SPR team sleeping in chairs, even Naru. The only person who _was _awake was Lin, who explained everything that had happened. He told me that I had collapsed because of injuries, and that Naru had collapsed because of exhaustion, but after a few hours of sleep, Naru was perfectly fine.

After everyone had woken up, Naru had given me some surprising words.

"I expect you to use your week of vacation wisely," he said. Naru _never _gave me vacation, which made me think he was joking. But Naru didn't bother saying anything else to me before he left with Lin. Meaning he was dead serious.

After he was gone, Monk and Yasu decided to tease me, saying that ever since Naru demanded to be released from the hospital, he hadn't left my room. I figured they were lying, and I firmly believed it, until John told me they weren't. That's when my face lit up.

Everything had ended and was back to normal, or simi-normal for us at SPR. That was until we got our next case.

_**To Be Continued**_

* * *

**I hope everyone enjoyed the story while it lasted. I know I enjoyed writing it. I hope it was a good ending and you liked it.**

**Thank you everyone for the support and reviews. I do hope it continues. And the sequel will be up soon, once I start writing it. I will notify everyone when it is, or you could just be on the look out.**

**Thank you again.**


	27. Sequel News

**Hey everyone! The new sequel is now up! Here are the details.**

**Title: The Doll House**

**Summary: The SPR team has gotten a new case and with the creepiest thing imaginable. Dolls. Heads roll, dolls talk, and lives are put on the line once again in this horrific case. But in all that, the relationship between Naru and Mai is strengthened as they and the rest of the gang try tackling the mysterious work at hand.**

**I do hope you read it and enjoy it just has much as you have with Manor of the Slaughtered Guests.**

**Thank you for the support again and I do hope you look forward to more.**


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